Chinese symbol for “strive”
奋斗
fèn dòu
Traditional: 奮鬥
to strive; to struggle
The closest CC-CEDICT match for strive is 奋斗 (fèn dòu), defined as: to strive; to struggle.
Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.
Characters and stroke order
Traditional forms
Other Chinese words for “strive”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 努力 | nǔ lì | to make an effort; to try hard; to strive; hard-working; conscientious |
| 争锋 (爭鋒) | zhēng fēng | to strive |
| 黾 (黽) | mǐn | to strive |
| 强 (強) | qiǎng | to force; to compel |
| 勉力 | miǎn lì | to strive; to make an effort |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 奋斗.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 兴奋 (興奮) | xīng fèn | excited; excitement |
| 勤奋 (勤奮) | qín fèn | hardworking; diligent |
| 奋力 (奮力) | fèn lì | to do everything one can; to spare no effort |
| 振奋 (振奮) | zhèn fèn | to stir oneself up; to raise one's spirits |
| 奋战 (奮戰) | fèn zhàn | to fight bravely; (fig.) to struggle |
| 战斗 (戰鬥) | zhàn dòu | to fight; to engage in combat |
| 斗争 (鬥爭) | dòu zhēng | a struggle; fight |
| 战斗机 (戰鬥機) | zhàn dòu jī | fighter (aircraft) |
See also: Japanese symbol for “strive”.
Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3); Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License (graphics.txt); LGPL-3.0-or-later (dictionary.txt)); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.