Japanese symbol for “effortless”
軽い
かるい
Romaji: karui
light (i.e. not heavy); feeling light (i.e. offering little resistance, moving easily)
In Japanese, effortless is 軽い, read かるい (karui).
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-i light (i.e. not heavy); feeling light (i.e. offering little resistance, moving easily)
- adj-i light (i.e. of foot); effortless; nimble; agile
- adj-i non-serious; minor; unimportant; trivial
- adj-i slight; small; gentle; soft; easy; lighthearted (e.g. joke)
- adj-i easy; simple
- adj-i indiscriminate
Written forms: 軽い. Readings: かるい、かろい.
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “effortless”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 手っ取り早い | てっとりばやい tettoribayai | simple; easy; effortless |
| 手軽い | てがるい tegarui | easy; simple; handy |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 気軽 | きがる kigaru | carefree; buoyant; lighthearted |
| 手軽 | てがる tegaru | easy; simple; informal |
| 軽減 | けいげん keigen | abatement; reduction |
| 軽傷 | けいしょう keishou | minor injury |
| 軽視 | けいし keishi | making light of; thinking little of; slighting |
See also: Chinese symbol for “effortless”.
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.