Japanese symbol for “deafness”
難聴
なんちょう
Romaji: nanchou
hardness of hearing; bradyacusia; deafness; hearing loss
In Japanese, deafness is 難聴, read なんちょう (nanchou).
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
- n hardness of hearing; bradyacusia; deafness; hearing loss (med)
- n having poor reception (radio, etc.)
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “deafness”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 聾唖 | ろうあ roua | deafness |
| 聾 | つんぼ tsunbo | deafness; deaf person |
| 聾 | ろう rou | deafness |
| 空耳 | そらみみ soramimi | (feigned) deafness |
| 耳の不自由 | みみのふじゆう miminofujiyuu | deafness; the deaf |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 難しい | むずかしい muzukashii | difficult; hard; troublesome |
| 困難 | こんなん konnan | difficulty; hardship; trouble |
| 避難 | ひなん hinan | taking refuge; finding shelter; evacuation |
| 非難 | ひなん hinan | criticism; blame; censure |
| 難民 | なんみん nanmin | refugee; displaced person |
| 盗難 | とうなん tounan | theft; robbery |
| 視聴 | しちょう shichou | looking and listening; (television) viewing; watching |
| 聴衆 | ちょうしゅう choushuu | audience; attendance; hearers |
See also: Chinese symbol for “deafness”.
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.