What does くらい mean in this context?

Question

びっくりするくらい遅いですよね。

Primarily, くらい means "approximately", or "about". But if I translate this sentence (via Google Translate), it gives me "It's surprisingly late, isn't it?". No word "approximately" or "about" in the translation. How to translate that sentence properly?

Does this answer your question: https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/2392/9831 — Chocolate, Sep 08 '22 at 15:11

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 08 '22 at 15:07

くらい (= [位]{くらい}) has the meanings "degree" "extent" "amount".

(It can be rephrased as びっくりするほど (= [程]{ほど}).)

「XXくらいYY」/「XXほどYY」 means "YY to the extent/degree that XX"

So びっくりするくらい遅い means lit. "late/slow to the extent that I get surprised" → "It's so slow/late that I'm surprised", "It's surprisingly late/slow."

score -1 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 08 '22 at 14:47

-1

I think it's just a hedging word, a lot like the ね at the end of the sentence. So it's used to make the sentence sound softer. I'd translate it as "Kinda surprising how late it is, huh?"

answered Sep 08 '22 at 14:47

Ragaroni

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What does くらい mean in this context?

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