Japanese symbol for “wise”
賢明
けんめい
Romaji: kenmei
wise; sensible; well-advised; intelligent
In Japanese, wise is 賢明, read けんめい (kenmei).
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-na, n wise; sensible; well-advised; intelligent; sagacious; prudent
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “wise”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 賢い | かしこい kashikoi | wise; clever; smart |
| 聡明 | そうめい soumei | wise; sagacious; intelligent |
| 利口 | りこう rikou | clever; intelligent; bright |
| 英明 | えいめい eimei | intelligent; wise; bright |
| ワイズ | ワイズ waizu | wise |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 賢い | かしこい kashikoi | wise; clever; smart |
| 賢人 | けんじん kenjin | wise person; virtuous person; sage |
| 賢者 | けんじゃ kenja | wise person; sage |
| 賢所 | かしこどころ kashikodokoro | palace sanctuary |
| 小賢しい | こざかしい kozakashii | smart-alecky; clever-clever; cheeky |
| 説明 | せつめい setsumei | explanation; exposition; description |
| 明日 | あした ashita | tomorrow |
| 明らか | あきらか akiraka | clear; obvious; evident |
See also: Chinese symbol for “wise”.
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.