King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “tiny”

Romaji: chiisai
small; little; tiny

In Japanese, tiny is , read (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

  1. adj-i small; little; tiny
  2. adj-i slight; below average (in degree, amount, etc.); minor; small
  3. adj-i low (e.g. sound); soft (e.g. voice)
  4. adj-i unimportant; petty; insignificant; trifling; trivial
  5. adj-i young; juvenile

Kanji and stroke order

little, small
on: ショウ
kun: ちい.さい、こ-、お-、さ-
3 strokes · JLPT 4

Other Japanese words for “tiny”

WordReadingMeaning
ちいさな chiisanasmall; little; tiny
ささやか sasayakasmall; little; tiny
れいさい reisaiinsignificant; trifling; paltry
こがた kogatasmall; little; tiny
かわいい kawaiidainty; little; tiny

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
しょうせつ shousetsunovel; story; (work of) fiction
しょうがっこう shougakkouprimary school; elementary school; grade school
しょうがくせい shougakuseielementary school student; primary school student; grade school student
こがた kogatasmall-sized; small-scale; miniature
しゅくしょう shukushoureduction; curtailment; cut

See also: Chinese symbol for “tiny”.

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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