Japanese symbol for “small”
小さい
ちいさい
Romaji: chiisai
small; little; tiny
In Japanese, small is 小さい, read ちいさい (chiisai).
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-i small; little; tiny
- adj-i slight; below average (in degree, amount, etc.); minor; small
- adj-i low (e.g. sound); soft (e.g. voice)
- adj-i unimportant; petty; insignificant; trifling; trivial
- adj-i young; juvenile
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “small”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 細かい | こまかい komakai | small |
| 少ない | すくない sukunai | few; little; small (amount) |
| 小 | こ ko | small; little; slight |
| 細か | こまか komaka | small; fine; detailed |
| 小さな | ちいさな chiisana | small; little; tiny |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 小説 | しょうせつ shousetsu | novel; story; (work of) fiction |
| 小学校 | しょうがっこう shougakkou | primary school; elementary school; grade school |
| 小学生 | しょうがくせい shougakusei | elementary school student; primary school student; grade school student |
| 小型 | こがた kogata | small-sized; small-scale; miniature |
| 縮小 | しゅくしょう shukushou | reduction; curtailment; cut |
See also: Chinese symbol for “small”.
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.