Japanese symbol for “distracted”
散漫
さんまん
Romaji: sanman
vague; desultory; distracted; loose
In Japanese, distracted is 散漫, read さんまん (sanman).
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-na, n vague; desultory; distracted; loose; half-hearted; diffuse
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “distracted”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 気が漫ろ | きがそぞろ kigasozoro | preoccupied; distracted |
| 漫ろ | そぞろ sozoro | restless; on edge (and unable to concentrate); distracted |
| 気もそぞろ | きもそぞろ kimosozoro | feeling restless; feeling nervous; fidgety |
| 心ここにあらず | こころここにあらず kokorokokoniarazu | there in body, but not in spirit; distracted; in one ear and out the other |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 解散 | かいさん kaisan | breaking up (a meeting, gathering, etc.); dispersal (e.g. of a crowd) |
| 散歩 | さんぽ sanpo | walk; stroll |
| 分散 | ぶんさん bunsan | dispersion; breakup; scattering |
| 拡散 | かくさん kakusan | spreading; disseminating; scattering |
| 散々 | さんざん sanzan | thoroughly; completely; utterly |
| 発散 | はっさん hassan | emission; emanation; radiation |
| 漫画 | まんが manga | cartoon; comic; comic strip |
| 漫才 | まんざい manzai | manzai; comic dialogue; two-person comedy act, usu. presented as a fast-paced dialogue, occ. presented as a skit |
See also: Chinese symbol for “distracted”.
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.