One of the best Japanese Kanji dictionary.

Share this page

Kanji for Chaos

The kanji most commonly used for "Chaos" are 乱、沌.

Kanji that mean Chaos

  • disorder, chaos, rebellion

    Onyomi: ran, ron Kunyomi: mida, mida.reru, mida.ru, mida.su, osa.meru, wata.ru 7 strokes Jōyō

  • chaos, confusion

    Also associated with primordial.

    Onyomi: ton Kunyomi: kura.i 7 strokes Jinmeiyō

乱 is the working character for chaos: 混乱 (confusion, a breakdown of order), 乱れる (to fall into disarray), 反乱 (a revolt), 戦乱 (the chaos of war). It covers everything from a disordered desk to a country at civil war, and unlike the English word it implies that something orderly has been disturbed — there was a shape, and it broke.

沌 is not a word on its own. In Japanese it appears essentially only in 混沌 (konton), the primeval chaos before things were separated out: formless, undifferentiated, prior to order rather than left over from it. That is the philosophical chaos, not the practical one.

So the choice is 乱 for disorder that happened to something, and 混沌 for chaos as a condition of the world. A lone 沌 will not be read as anything by most people.

Before you use Chaos kanji

乱 is legible and reads as disorder, riot or disturbance — closer to 'turmoil' than to a stylish 'chaos'. 沌 alone is not a word and will simply puzzle a Japanese reader; if you want that sense, the two-character 混沌 is what reads.

Other meanings to explore

See all kanji by meaning →

Share this link via

Or copy link