Japanese symbol for “overwork”
過労
かろう
Romaji: karou
overwork; strain
In Japanese, overwork is 過労, read かろう (karou).
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
- adj-no, n overwork; strain
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “overwork”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| オーバーワーク | オーバーワーク oobaawaaku | overwork |
| 働きすぎる | はたらきすぎる hatarakisugiru | to overwork |
| 過重労働 | かじゅうろうどう kajuuroudou | overwork; working too hard |
| 働きすぎ | はたらきすぎ hatarakisugi | overactivity; overwork |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 過去 | かこ kako | the past; bygone days |
| 過ぎ | すぎ sugi | past; after |
| 過程 | かてい katei | process; course; mechanism |
| 経過 | けいか keika | passage (of time); elapsing; lapse |
| 通過 | つうか tsuuka | passing through (a tunnel, station, town, etc.); passing by (e.g. of a typhoon); transit |
| 過剰 | かじょう kajou | excess; surplus; superabundance |
| 労働 | ろうどう roudou | labor; labour; work |
| 苦労 | くろう kurou | trouble; hardship; difficulty |
See also: Chinese symbol for “overwork”.
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.