Japanese symbol for “exaggeration”
誇張
こちょう
Romaji: kochou
exaggeration
In Japanese, exaggeration is 誇張, read こちょう (kochou).
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, vs, vt exaggeration
Kanji and stroke order
counter for bows & stringed instruments, stretch, spread
on: チョウ
kun: は.る、-は.り、-ば.り
kun: は.る、-は.り、-ば.り
11 strokes · JLPT 2
Other Japanese words for “exaggeration”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 過言 | かごん kagon | exaggeration; overstatement; saying too much |
| 誇大 | こだい kodai | exaggeration; hyperbole |
| 言い過ぎ | いいすぎ iisugi | exaggeration; overstatement |
| 針小棒大 | しんしょうぼうだい shinshouboudai | exaggeration; making a mountain out of a molehill |
| 脚色 | きゃくしょく kyakushoku | embellishment (of the facts); exaggeration; dramatization |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 誇り | ほこり hokori | pride; boast; credit (to) |
| 誇る | ほこる hokoru | to boast of; to be proud of; to take pride in |
| 誇示 | こじ koji | flaunting; showing off; display (of power, wealth, etc.) |
| 誇大 | こだい kodai | exaggeration; hyperbole |
| 誇らしい | ほこらしい hokorashii | proud; haughty; arrogant |
| 主張 | しゅちょう shuchou | claim; insistence; assertion |
| 緊張 | きんちょう kinchou | tension; strain; nervousness |
| 拡張 | かくちょう kakuchou | expansion; extension; enlargement |
See also: Chinese symbol for “exaggeration”.
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.