Japanese symbol for “greatly”
大変
たいへん
Romaji: taihen
very; greatly; terribly; awfully
In Japanese, greatly is 大変, read たいへん (taihen).
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
- adv very; greatly; terribly; awfully
- adj-na, n immense; enormous; great
- adj-na, n serious; grave; dreadful; terrible
- adj-na, n difficult; hard; challenging
- n major incident; disaster
Written forms: 大変、大へん. Readings: たいへん.
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “greatly”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 大分 | だいぶ daibu | considerably; greatly; a lot |
| 大いに | おおいに ooini | very; very much; greatly |
| 甚だ | はなはだ hanahada | very; greatly; extremely |
| 余程 | よほど yohodo | very; greatly; much |
| 大層 | たいそう taisou | very; extremely; exceedingly |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 大丈夫 | だいじょうぶ daijoubu | safe; secure; sound |
| 大学 | だいがく daigaku | university; college |
| 最大 | さいだい saidai | biggest; greatest; largest |
| 大会 | たいかい taikai | mass meeting; convention; rally |
| 大統領 | だいとうりょう daitouryou | president (of a country) |
| 変更 | へんこう henkou | change; modification; alteration |
| 変化 | へんか henka | change; variation; alteration |
| 変わる | かわる kawaru | to change; to be transformed; to be altered |
See also: Chinese symbol for “greatly”.
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.