Japanese symbol for “challenging”
大変
たいへん
Romaji: taihen
very; greatly; terribly; awfully
In Japanese, challenging is 大変, read たいへん (taihen).
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
- adv very; greatly; terribly; awfully
- adj-na, n immense; enormous; great
- adj-na, n serious; grave; dreadful; terrible
- adj-na, n difficult; hard; challenging
- n major incident; disaster
Written forms: 大変、大へん. Readings: たいへん.
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “challenging”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| チャレンジ | チャレンジ charenji | taking on (a challenge); attempt; try |
| 誰何 | すいか suika | challenging (an unknown person); asking a person's identity |
| チャレンジング | チャレンジング charenjingu | challenging |
| 挑戦的 | ちょうせんてき chousenteki | challenging; defiant; provocative |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 大丈夫 | だいじょうぶ daijoubu | safe; secure; sound |
| 大学 | だいがく daigaku | university; college |
| 最大 | さいだい saidai | biggest; greatest; largest |
| 大会 | たいかい taikai | mass meeting; convention; rally |
| 大統領 | だいとうりょう daitouryou | president (of a country) |
| 変更 | へんこう henkou | change; modification; alteration |
| 変化 | へんか henka | change; variation; alteration |
| 変わる | かわる kawaru | to change; to be transformed; to be altered |
See also: Chinese symbol for “challenging”.
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.