King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “speechless”

Romaji: azen
dumbfounded; speechless; flabbergasted; struck dumb with astonishment

In Japanese, speechless is , read (azen).

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-t, adv-to dumbfounded; speechless; flabbergasted; struck dumb with astonishment

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

mute, dumb
on: ア、アク
kun: おし
10 strokes
sort of thing, so, if so
on: ゼン、ネン
kun: しか、しか.り、しか.し、さ
12 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “speechless”

WordReadingMeaning
オタオタ otaotaflustered; flurried; (shocked) speechless
ものがいえない monogaienaispeechless (with amazement); struck dumb; tongue-tied
くちがきけない kuchigakikenaiunable to speak; inarticulate; mute
あいたくちがふさがらない aitakuchigafusagaranaidumbfounded; speechless; flabbergasted

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
ろうあ rouadeafness
もうあ mouablind and dumb
もうあがっこう mouagakkouschool for the blind and dumb
ろうあがっこう rouagakkouschool for people unable to hear and speak
おしぜみ oshizemivoiceless cicada (female); Asian cicada
しぜん shizennature
とうぜん touzennatural; right; proper
ぜんぜん zenzen(not) at all; (not) in the slightest

See also: Chinese symbol for “speechless”.

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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