〜どころか

far from (X, actually the opposite); let alone, not even

Formation: V-plain / い-adj plain / な-adj stem (+な) / N + どころか

It has two main uses. First, it denies an expectation and gives the opposite: 下がるどころか上がった, 'far from going down, it went up.' Second, it sets a large item against a smaller one: 漢字どころかひらがなも書けない, 'can't even write hiragana, let alone kanji.' In this use the second part usually has も, さえ or すら. Both uses carry surprise or criticism and appear in speech as well as writing. Compare 〜ばかりか, which simply adds something (not only X but also Y) and never reverses. 〜どころではない is different again: it ends the sentence and means there is no time or room for X.

Variants: どころかむしろ、〜どころか〜さえ／も

Examples

薬を飲んだが、熱は下がるどころか上がってしまった。
I took medicine, but far from going down, my fever went up.
忙しくて、旅行どころか週末に休むこともできない。
I'm so busy I can't even rest at weekends, let alone travel.
彼は謝るどころか、逆に怒り出した。
Far from apologizing, he got angry instead.

In real texts 0 occurrence(s)

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