King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “floundering”

Romaji: teimei
hanging low (of clouds)

In Japanese, floundering is , read (teimei).

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

  1. n, vi, vs hanging low (of clouds)
  2. n, vi, vs remaining low (of sales, stock prices, etc.); remaining sluggish (of the economy, market, etc.); hovering (around a low level); floundering; slump; depression

Kanji and stroke order

lower, short, humble
on: テイ
kun: ひく.い、ひく.める、ひく.まる
7 strokes · JLPT 3
astray, be perplexed, in doubt
on: メイ
kun: まよ.う
9 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “floundering”

WordReadingMeaning
ジタバタ jitabata(kicking and) struggling; wriggling; floundering
バタバタ batabata(running) with a clatter; noisily; thrashing (around)
もがき mogakistruggle; writhing; wriggling

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
さいてい saiteileast; lowest; minimum
ていか teikafall; decline; lowering
ひくい hikuilow (rank, degree, value, content, quality, etc.)
ていおん teionlow temperature
さいていげん saiteigenminimum
めいわく meiwakutrouble; bother; annoyance
まよう mayouto lose one's way; to get lost; to go astray
まいご maigolost child; lost person; stray child

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.

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