手直し|てなおしtenaoshi[2]nakadaka (mid-high)

1. noun, suru verb, transitive verbadjustment; tweaking; improvement; modification; tinkering; minor alteration; correction
   家いえを購入こうにゅうしてからいろいろ手直てなおしをしてきた。↗

   We have made numerous improvements to our house since we bought it.

• Synonym修正しゅうせいNeutralNeutral. Broader than 「手直し」: it fixes errors and shortcomings and adjusts deviations, while 「手直し」 is about small local changes to something already made.
• Synonym直しなおしNeutralColloquial: mending or fixing things; as 「お直し」 it also means altering clothes. More general than 「手直し」.
• Synonym訂正ていせいNeutralNeutral. For correcting errors — turning the wrong into the right, as in 「訂正記事」. Unlike 「手直し」 it carries no sense of improvement.
• Synonym修整しゅうせいNeutralNeutral. Narrow in scope: retouching photographs or tidying up appearances, as in 「写真の修整」.
• Synonym改めるあらためるNeutralNeutral. A verb with wide uses: to correct, change or reform, and even to inspect. Not limited to the small local touch-ups of 「手直し」.
• Synonym改訂かいていWrittenWritten. Revising the content of books or texts, often bringing out a new edition (「改訂版」); changes can be large or small, and the object is mostly publications.
• Synonym添削てんさくNeutralNeutral. A teacher marking and correcting a pupil's compositions or exam answers, as in 「作文の添削」 — the fixing is done by someone else.
• Synonym直すなおすNeutralNeutral. The basic everyday verb for repairing or correcting things, used all the time in daily life and far broader in use than 「手直し」.
• Synonym調整ちょうせいNeutralNeutral. Widely used: adjusting things to a suitable, balanced state, as in 「日程調整」 (arranging a schedule).
• Synonym修訂しゅうていWrittenWritten. Correcting errors in a book; 「改訂」 by contrast revises the content and brings out a new edition.
• Synonym更訂こうていWrittenWritten but rare today; for revising texts 「改訂」 is the word normally used.
• Synonym手を加えるてをくわえるNeutralNeutral. A set phrase for stepping in and altering something — processing, reworking or revising it; the emphasis is on deliberate intervention, large or small.
• Related加筆かひつWrittenWritten. Adding to and reworking a text or painting, as in 「加筆修正」; the emphasis is on supplementing content.
• Related改正かいせいWrittenFormal. Revising laws or rules, as in 「法改正」 — it targets legal provisions and systems, a more formal choice than 「手直し」.
• Related変更へんこうNeutralNeutral. The widest in application of these words: changing something into something else, as with plans. It does not imply the result is an improvement.
• Related是正ぜせいWrittenFormal. Redressing what is wrong or unfair, such as disparities, as in 「格差是正」 — setting an improper state right.
• Related補正ほせいWrittenFormal. Correcting figures or compensating for deviations, as in 「補正予算」 (a supplementary budget) — adding what is needed to fix errors.
• Related改編かいへんWrittenFormal. Reorganizing or rearranging something such as a program or organization — a structural overhaul, larger in scale than a small fix.
• Related更正こうせいWrittenFormal and legalistic: correcting official filings or registrations, mainly in tax matters, as in 「更正請求」.
• Related改変かいへんWrittenFormal. Altering something from its original state, often with a negative nuance of unauthorized change, as in 「無断改変」.
• Related改造かいぞうNeutralNeutral. Remodeling or modifying machines, buildings or organizations — major changes to structure or function, as in 「改造車」 (a modified car).
• Related改定かいていWrittenFormal. Revising rules or prices and setting new standards, as in 「料金改定」 (a price revision).
• Related校閲こうえつWrittenFormal publishing term for checking over a manuscript — verifying facts and hunting down misprints before printing.
• Related整合せいごうWrittenFormal. Making things consistent and fitting together as a whole — about overall coherence, not local fixes.
• Related調節ちょうせつNeutralNeutral. Regulating continuous quantities such as temperature or volume — turning them up or down to a comfortable level.
• Related模様替えもようがえNeutralNeutral. Changing the look of a room — rearranging furniture or redecorating. It alters the overall appearance, unlike the local touch-ups of 「手直し」.
• Related校訂こうていWrittenWritten and scholarly: collating classical texts by comparing editions to establish the most reliable wording of the original.
• Related再調整さいちょうせいNeutralNeutral. An explanatory term for adjusting something a second time — recalibrating settings or arrangements that were already adjusted once.
• Antonym放置ほうちNeutralNeutral. The opposite of 「手直し」: leaving something as it is and doing nothing about it.

Use 「手直し」 for small fixes to something already largely finished, as in 「原稿を手直しする」 or 「制度の手直し」. For correcting errors say 「訂正」 or 「修正」; for a teacher marking a composition, 「添削」; for revising a book, 「改訂」; for changing laws or rules, 「改正」. 「変更」 simply changes something into something else, 「調整」 brings it to a suitable state, and 「改造」 is major remodeling. The opposite of touching something up is 「放置」 — leaving it alone.

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

1. ある程度ていど出来上できあがったものに手てを加くわえて不完全ふかんぜんな箇所かしょを直なおすこと。