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I have heard both of these in several contexts and I have having trouble
understanding the difference in meaning and connotation.

I would like to know the difference between 様々 and 色々and when to use each one.
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2021-03-24T16:47:02.510
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2023-01-31T17:44:47.913
2023-01-31T17:44:47.913
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question
word-choice nuances synonyms
Difference between 様々 and 色々
Etymologically speaking, いろいろ is 'full of colors', and さまざま 'various in one's
appearance or figure', but this does not give us a reasonable answer. Answers
and comments about the difference between these confusing words, which are
found on the Internet, assert that いろいろ puts more emphasis on the greater
number of things, while さまざま on the differences of various things. This may be
true but in most cases, both are interchangeable without much difference. My
answer to your question is that both of these words are interchangeable in
almost all cases. It seems to me difficult to discover uninterchangeable
examples such as いろいろと vs. ｘさまざまと and いろいろ話す vs. ｘさまざま話す. But as a Japanese
writer, I don't like to use these words (色々、様々) in Kanji but in Hiragana, and
I prefer いろいろ to さまざま, because the former sounds to me soft and the latter
sounds hard or noisy. This sound symbolism of mine may coincide with the
assertion that いろいろ is a little colloquial and さまざま is usually used in written
Japanese. The following is an example of my own making. (ｘ unacceptable)

この二つの語が使われる例を、いろいろ（ｘさまざま）考えてみた。まず、これらの語のあとにいろいろな（さまざまな）助詞がつく例を考察してみた。いろいろな（さまざまな）観点から論じられているが、結局、その大きなちがいは文体上のちがいのようだ。
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2021-03-25T04:16:58.787
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2023-01-31T15:11:14.733
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answer