Japanese symbol for “falling”
転び
ころび
Romaji: korobi
falling (down); tumbling (down); falling to the ground
In Japanese, falling is 転び, read ころび (korobi).
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 falling (down); tumbling (down); falling to the ground
- n failure; failing
- n renouncing Christianity and converting to Buddhism (during the Edo period); apostasy
- n batter (construction technique)
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “falling”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ボロボロ | ボロボロ boroboro | falling (in drops or clumps); scattering |
| 散り | ちり chiri | scattering; dispersal; falling (of blossoms, leaves, etc.) |
| 立ち下がり | たちさがり tachisagari | decay (e.g. charge, signal); trailing (e.g. edge); falling |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 運転 | うんてん unten | operation (of a machine); running; working |
| 自転車 | じてんしゃ jitensha | bicycle; bike |
| 回転 | かいてん kaiten | rotation; revolution; turn |
| 移転 | いてん iten | moving; relocation; change of address |
| 逆転 | ぎゃくてん gyakuten | reversal (of a situation); turnaround; turnabout |
| 転換 | てんかん tenkan | conversion; diversion; changeover |
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.