How to say "unfold" in Japanese

• 繰り広げるくりひろげるCommon
  ichidan verb, transitive verbCovers 'unfold' chiefly in the figurative sense of events, scenes, or spectacles playing out — a drama or battle unfolding before one; its 'unroll, open' side is secondary.
  目めの前まえで繰り広くりひろげられるやり取とりは、俺おれが入り込はいりこむ隙すきなんて一いちミリもない。↗

  The exchange unfolding in front of my eyes had not a single millimetre of a gap in which for me to slip.
• ひらくJLPT N4approx.Common
  godan verb, intransitive verb, transitive verbSuits 'unfold' in the sense of opening out or blooming — a flower unfolding, a bud spreading open. The core image is something naturally opening and spreading, as with flowers in bloom.
  庭にわのバラの木きのつぼみが少すこしずつ開ひらき始はじめる。↗

  Little by little, the buds on the rosebush in my garden begin to open.
• 広げるひろげるJLPT N2approx.Common
  ichidan verb, transitive verbThe natural verb for physically unfolding or spreading something out — a map, a newspaper, a cloth, a pair of wings. Transitive: someone unfolds or spreads the object.
  私は机つくえの上うえに地図ちずを広ひろげた。↗

  I unfolded the map on the desk.

Use 「広げる」 for physically unfolding or spreading something out, 「ひらく」 for things opening out or blooming, and 「繰り広げる」 for events, scenes, or spectacles unfolding in the figurative sense.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

• 繰り広げるくりひろげるto unfold
• 披くひらくto open
• ひらくto bloom
• 広げるひろげるto unfold
• おっぴろげるto unfold