始末

しまつ

disposal; cleaning up afterwards

Also:course of events, end result (usu. bad), economizing

What does 始末 mean?

始末 is a Japanese noun meaning disposal; cleaning up afterwards in English. It can also be translated as course of events, end result (usu. bad), economizing depending on context. It is written as 始末 in kanji, しまつ in hiragana, and shimatsu in romaji. This word is part of JLPT N1 vocabulary.

Example sentences

彼は午後いっぱい使って昨年のほうれん草の根を始末した。

He's spent all afternoon rooting up last year's spinach plants.

世界からは【麻疹輸出国】と嫌味とも本音ともとれることをいわれている始末

Ending up with being called a "measles exporting country" by the rest of the world, something that you could take as insult or truth.