King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “slender”

Romaji: hosoi
thin; slender; fine

In Japanese, slender is , read (hosoi).

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. adj-i thin; slender; fine
  2. adj-i unlucky

Kanji and stroke order

dainty, get thin, taper
on: サイ
kun: ほそ.い、ほそ.る、こま.か、こま.かい
11 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “slender”

WordReadingMeaning
スレンダー surendaaslender
ほそみ hosomislender (figure, build); thin
すらっと surattoslender; slim
きゃしゃ kyashadainty; delicate; slender
すんなり sunnarislim; slender; lithe

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
しょうさい shousaidetails; particulars; specifics
さいぼう saiboucell
こまかい komakaismall
さいきん saikinbacterium; bacteria; germ
せんさい sensaidainty; delicate (e.g. fingers); fine

See also: Chinese symbol for “slender”.

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.