Japanese symbol for “pensive”
沈痛
ちんつう
Romaji: chintsuu
grave; sad; mournful; sorrowful
In Japanese, pensive is 沈痛, read ちんつう (chintsuu).
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-na grave; sad; mournful; sorrowful; pensive
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “pensive”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 物思わしい | ものおもわしい monoomowashii | pensive; meditative; wistful |
| 哀れ気 | あわれげ awarege | sad; sorrowful; pensive |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 沈黙 | ちんもく chinmoku | silence; being silent; quiet |
| 沈没 | ちんぼつ chinbotsu | sinking; foundering; going down |
| 沈む | しずむ shizumu | to sink; to go under; to submerge |
| 沈静 | ちんせい chinsei | settling down; quieting down; cooling down |
| 撃沈 | げきちん gekichin | (attacking and) sinking (a ship); sending (a ship) to the bottom |
| 沈着 | ちんちゃく chinchaku | composure; calmness; self-possession |
| 痛み | いたみ itami | pain; ache; soreness |
| 痛い | いたい itai | painful; sore |
See also: Chinese symbol for “pensive”.
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.