King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “subtleties”

Romaji: kibi
subtleties; niceties; fine points; inner workings

In Japanese, subtleties is , read (kibi).

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 subtleties; niceties; fine points; inner workings; secrets
  2. adj-na subtle; sensitive

Kanji and stroke order

loom, mechanism, machine
on: キ
kun: はた
16 strokes · JLPT 2
delicate, minuteness, insignificance
on: ビ
kun: かす.か
13 strokes · JLPT 1

Other Japanese words for “subtleties”

WordReadingMeaning
いんえい in'einuance; shades of meaning; subtleties

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
きのう kinoufunction; facility; faculty
きかん kikanengine
きかい kikaichance; opportunity; occasion
きかい kikaimachine; mechanism
きき kikicrisis; critical situation; emergency
きこう kikoumechanism; machinery
びみょう bimyousubtle; delicate; fine
けんびきょう kenbikyoumicroscope

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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