King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “reticence”

Romaji: chinmoku
silence; being silent; quiet; hush

In Japanese, reticence is , read (chinmoku).

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 silence; being silent; quiet; hush
  2. n, vi, vs reticence; inaction

Kanji and stroke order

sink, be submerged, subside
on: チン、ジン
kun: しず.む、しず.める
7 strokes · JLPT 2
silence, become silent, stop speaking
on: モク、ボク
kun: だま.る、もだ.す
15 strokes · JLPT 1

Other Japanese words for “reticence”

WordReadingMeaning
かげん kagenreticence; taciturnity
かくい kakuireserve; reticence; unfriendliness

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
ちんぼつ chinbotsusinking; foundering; going down
しずむ shizumuto sink; to go under; to submerge
ちんせい chinseisettling down; quieting down; cooling down
げきちん gekichin(attacking and) sinking (a ship); sending (a ship) to the bottom
ちんちゃく chinchakucomposure; calmness; self-possession
だまる damaruto be silent; to say nothing
あんもく anmokutacit; unspoken; implicit
もくにん mokunintacit approval; tacit permission; connivance

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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