Difference between めちゃ, めちゃめちゃ, and めちゃくちゃ


These three words give me a hard time: めちゃ, めちゃめちゃ, めちゃくちゃ. Do they have
distinct meanings? Do they differ in nuance? What do they actually mean.

[Weblio](https://www.weblio.jp/content/%E3%82%81%E3%81%A1%E3%82%83%E3%81%8F%E3%81%A1%E3%82%83)
refers all three words back to a single meaning of めちゃくちゃ, but Jisho has
multiple meanings for each word.




めちゃ and めっちゃ work as an adverb (めちゃ走った, めっちゃ面白い) but not as an adjective
(❌めっちゃな話, ❌それはめちゃだ). めちゃくちゃ and めちゃめちゃ work as both an adverb and a na-
adjective, but I feel めちゃめちゃ is more common as an adverb.

めちゃくちゃ is already relatively informal, but めちゃめちゃ and め(っ)ちゃ are clearly more
colloquial or slangy than めちゃくちゃ. If you used め(っ)ちゃ in a job interview, your
education level would be questioned. Basically you can think of めちゃくちゃ as the
standard version and the other two as slangy variants.

Meaning-wise, I think there is not a big difference. They all mean something
along the lines of _crazy_ , _absurd_ , _mad_ , _chaotic_ , but can also work
as an intensifier ( _like crazy_ , _super_ , _insanely_ , etc).




めちゃ and めっちゃ work as an adverb (めちゃ走った, めっちゃ面白い) but not as an adjective
(❌めっちゃな話, ❌それはめちゃだ). めちゃくちゃ and めちゃめちゃ work as both an adverb and a na-
adjective, but I feel めちゃめちゃ is more common as an adverb.

めちゃくちゃ is already relatively informal, but めちゃめちゃ and め(っ)ちゃ are clearly more
colloquial or slangy than めちゃくちゃ. If you used め(っ)ちゃ in a job interview, your
education level would be questioned. Basically you can think of めちゃくちゃ as the
standard version and the other two as slangy variants.

Meaning-wise, I think there is not a big difference. They all mean something
along the lines of _crazy_ , _absurd_ , _mad_ , _chaotic_ , but can also work
as an intensifier ( _like crazy_ , _super_ , _insanely_ , etc).

