adverbial N3 common casualpolite

さっぱり〜ない — not at all / no idea

さっぱり

Meaning

not at all / no idea — completely, especially of understanding or progress ('totally lost')

何なにを言いっているのか、さっぱり分わからない。

I have no idea at all what you're saying.

Attaches to	Form	Example
Negative predicate	さっぱり + …ない	さっぱり見みえない

When: Most natural with verbs of understanding, knowing, or progress (分わかる, 見当けんとうがつく, 売うれる) — it stresses a complete blank or zero progress.

勉強べんきょうしたのに、さっぱり覚おぼえていない。

I studied, but I don't remember any of it.

最近さいきんは商品しょうひんがさっぱり売うれない。

Lately the goods aren't selling at all.

Unrelated lexical sense: さっぱり(する) on its own means 'refreshed' or 'light/clean-tasting' (さっぱりした味あじ) — not the negation use here.

Jengo shows さっぱり the way you actually meet it: inside real Japanese sentences, so it sticks instead of staying an abstract rule.

Sources Compiled with reference to A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar.