Japanese symbol for “delayed”

遅発性

ちはつせい

Romaji: chihatsusei

late-onset (of a disease, etc.); delayed; tardive

In Japanese, delayed is 遅発性, read ちはつせい (chihatsusei).

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

adj-f late-onset (of a disease, etc.); delayed; tardive

Kanji and stroke order

遅

slow, late, back

on: チ
kun: おく.れる、おく.らす、おそ.い

12 strokes · JLPT 2

発

departure, discharge, publish

on: ハツ、ホツ
kun: た.つ、あば.く、おこ.る、つか.わす

9 strokes · JLPT 3

性

sex, gender, nature

on: セイ、ショウ
kun: さが

8 strokes · JLPT 2

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
遅れ	おくれ okure	delay; lag; falling behind
遅い	おそい osoi	slow
遅刻	ちこく chikoku	lateness; tardiness; arriving late
手遅れ	ておくれ teokure	being too late; losing one's final chance
遅延	ちえん chien	delay; latency
遅れる	おくれる okureru	to be late; to be delayed; to fall behind schedule
発売	はつばい hatsubai	sale; offering for sale; putting on sale
発表	はっぴょう happyou	announcement; publication; presenting
女性	じょせい josei	woman; female

See also: Chinese symbol for “delayed”.

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.