King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “cautious”

Romaji: shinchou
careful; cautious; prudent; discreet

In Japanese, cautious is , read (shinchou).

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.

Meanings

  1. adj-na, n careful; cautious; prudent; discreet; deliberate

Kanji and stroke order

humility, be careful, discreet
on: シン
kun: つつし.む、つつ.ましい、つつし、つつし.み
13 strokes · JLPT 1
heavy, important, esteem
on: ジュウ、チョウ
kun: え、おも.い、おも.り、おも.なう
9 strokes · JLPT 3

Other Japanese words for “cautious”

WordReadingMeaning
ようじんぶかい youjinbukaicareful; cautious; wary
ちゅういぶかい chuuibukaiattentive; cautious; careful
そつがない sotsuganaicautious; careful; shrewd
そつのない sotsunonaicautious; careful; shrewd
つつしみぶかい tsutsushimibukaimodest; reserved; discreet

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
きんしん kinshinself restraint; moderating one's own behavior; penitence
つつしむ tsutsushimuto be careful; to be discreet
ふきんしん fukinshinimprudent; indiscreet; immodest
つつしみ tsutsushimimodesty; self-control; discretion
つつましい tsutsumashiimodest; reserved; quiet
じゅうよう juuyouimportant; essential; significant
たいじゅう taijuu(body) weight
きちょう kichouprecious; valuable

See also: Chinese symbol for “cautious”.

Data: JMdict (CC BY-SA 4.0); KANJIDIC2 (CC BY-SA 4.0); KanjiVG (CC BY-SA 3.0); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.

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