Japanese symbol for “fumbling”

手探り

てさぐり

Romaji: tesaguri

fumbling; groping

In Japanese, fumbling is 手探り, read てさぐり (tesaguri).

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 fumbling; groping

Written forms: 手探り、手さぐり. Readings: てさぐり.

Kanji and stroke order

手

hand

on: シュ、ズ
kun: て、て-、-て、た-

4 strokes · JLPT 4

探

grope, search, look for

on: タン
kun: さぐ.る、さが.す

11 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “fumbling”

Word	Reading	Meaning
弄り	いじり ijiri	meddling; fumbling; fondling

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
相手	あいて aite	companion; partner; company
選手	せんしゅ senshu	player (of a sport); athlete; team member
手段	しゅだん shudan	means; way; method
手術	しゅじゅつ shujutsu	surgery; operation; procedure
大手	おおて oote	major company; big company
手紙	てがみ tegami	letter; note
探す	さがす sagasu	to search for; to look for; to hunt for
探検	たんけん tanken	exploration; expedition

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.