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Kanji Detail for 誠 - "sincerity, truth, truly"

誠

  • Meaning

    誠 means "sincerity, truth, truly."

    1. Sincerity - Honesty; truthfulness.

    2. Truth - Reality; authenticity.

    3. Truly - Indeed; really.

  • Words using 誠

    • 誠実 せいじつ Listen sincere; honest; faithful
    • 誠意 せいい Listen sincerity; good faith
    • 忠誠 ちゅうせい Listen loyalty; sincerity; allegiance
    • 誠にありがとうございます まことにありがとうございます Listen thank you very much

  • Four-character idioms with 誠

    • 誠心誠意 せいしんせいい Listen in all sincerity; with one's whole heart; whole-hearted devotion

  • Origin of 誠

    言, words, beside 成, "to become, to complete": words that become real. Sincerity, in this character, is simply the absence of distance between what is said and what is done.

    How to remember it: Words 言 that come true 成 — say it and make it so: sincerity.

    Sources: en.wiktionary.org · mojinavi.com

  • Tattoo check: 誠

    • Verified meaning: sincerity, truth, truly
    • Official Jōyō kanji — a standard character every Japanese reader recognises
    • Used in real Japanese given names (read あきら, すみたか, すみと, せい)

    A single kanji rarely maps one-to-one onto an English word. Read the meanings and associations above as a set — a character that fits the dictionary definition can still carry a connotation you did not intend.

  • Name readings of 誠

    Given names 誠(あきら)Listen 誠(せい)Listen 誠(そん)Listen 誠(たかし)Listen 誠(ただし)Listen 誠(のぶ)Listen 誠(まかと)Listen 誠(まこ)Listen 誠(まこと)Listen

    Surnames 誠(すみたか)Listen 誠(すみと)Listen 誠(せいじ)Listen

  • Compare with other kanji that mean the same thing:

  • Dictionary Citations

    The meaning above is based on the following sources:

    KANJIDIC2 A comprehensive Japanese-English kanji dictionary

    sincerity; admonish; warn; prohibit; truth; fidelity

    Unihan Unicode Han Database for CJK characters

    sincere, honest; true, real

    CC-CEDICT A Chinese-English dictionary

    (bound form) sincere; authentic; (literary) really; truly

    Make Me a Hanzi Open-source Chinese character data

    honest, sincere, true; actually, really

    XSZD Xuéshēng Zìdiǎn (學生字典) - Student's Dictionary

    True and real. Such as saying 推誠相與 (treating each other with sincerity). | An auxiliary word. Indeed. Such as saying 誠然 (indeed so).

  • Onyomi

    tip

    sei(セイ) セイ

  • Kunyomi

    tip

    makoto(まこと) まこと

  • Strokes

    tip

    13 strokes

  • Radical

    tip

    言 (gen・gomben・kotoba)

  • Related Keywords

    sincerity truth truly fact reality honesty authenticity candor faithfulness genuineness honor integrity loyalty righteousness trustworthiness uprightness veracity virtue

Sentences including 誠

  • Thank you for your kindness.

  • He is very honest in business.

  • She is honest in deeds and in words.

  • I found a true friend in her.

  • We love him all the more because he is honest.

  • That politician is by no means honest.

  • She was faithful to her promise.

  • Nothing is more important than sincerity.

  • The man is anything but honest.

  • She is by no means honest.

Sentences from Japanese classical masterpieces

More kanji with the radical 言 (gen・gomben・kotoba)

See all kanji with this radical →

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