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Kanji for Swift

The kanji most commonly used for "Swift" are 迅、速、捷.

Kanji that mean Swift

  • swift, rapid, prompt

    Onyomi: jin 6 strokes Jōyō

  • fast, prompt, speed

    Onyomi: soku Kunyomi: haya, haya.i, haya.meru, sumi.yaka 10 strokes Jōyō

  • victory, swift

    Also associated with shortcut.

    Onyomi: shoh, soh Kunyomi: haya.i 11 strokes Jinmeiyō

  • quick, clever

    Onyomi: bin 11 strokes Jinmeiyō

迅 is speed as promptness — acting without delay. It barely appears alone, but 迅速 (swift, prompt) is an everyday word for a fast response, and that is the sense it carries: quick to act rather than quick on your feet.

捷 is swiftness as nimbleness, the character in 敏捷 (agile, quick-moving). It also carries an older meaning of victory, so it reads as the quickness that wins rather than the quickness that merely covers ground.

Neither is common on its own in modern writing; both are seen more in names and set compounds than in ordinary sentences. The plain everyday character for fast is 速, as in 速い and 速度 (speed), and 敏 covers being quick and alert — 敏感 is sensitive, quick to perceive. Between them: 速 for measurable speed, 迅 for promptness, 捷 and 敏 for agility and sharpness.

Before you use Swift kanji

迅 reads as prompt and decisive and is the safest of the two here, though it is unusual standing alone. 捷 is rarer still and pulls toward victory as much as toward speed. If you want plain quickness, 速 is the character an ordinary reader expects.

Other meanings to explore

See all kanji by meaning →

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