Meaning & usage
とは marks a phrase as the content of surprise or an emphatic definition. After a plain-form verb or sentence it expresses shock that something happened, often with なんて or a comment on the listener's nerve. With a noun it defines what something is, as in Xとは...である, or states what a noun is not related to.
Example sentences 8
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有意義な回答とは、新たな疑問を生むようなそれである。
The only useful answers are those that raise new questions.
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一人で原始林へ乗り込もうとは君はなんて勇ましいんだ。
How brave of you to go alone into the primaeval forest!
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このワタクシをさらりと無視するとは良い度胸ですわね。
You must have some nerve to ignore me.
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犯人だと思っていた男は事件とは何の関係もなかった。
The man I thought was the criminal didn't have any connection to the incident.
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おやおや、食事の途中に席を立つとはマナーに反しますね。
Oh my, leaving the table in the middle of a meal is bad manners, you know.
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「人は見かけによらない」とはよく言ったものですね。
It's well said that "You can't judge people by their appearance", isn't it?
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まさかそのような窮地に立たされているとは露知らず。
Good grief! I had no idea you had been placed in such a tight spot.
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あぁ……、若かったとはいえ、しょうもない凡ミスだ。
Ahh ... well I was young but what a stupid mistake.