bungling, clumsy, unskillful
On'yomi (音読み)
- セツ
Kun'yomi (訓読み)
- つたな.い
About this kanji
The kanji 拙, pronounced as 'setsu' in on'yomi and 'tsutanai' in kun'yomi, primarily means bungling or unskillful. It is often used as an adjective to describe someone's lack of skill, such as in the compound 稚拙 (chisetsu), which means unskillful or immature. Another example is 拙速 (sessoku), referring to something done hastily without proper skill, often leading to poor results. This kanji can also appear in phrases like 拙劣 (setretsu), meaning clumsy or inept. A usage note: while this kanji has negative connotations, it can also play a role in humble expressions, showing modesty about one’s abilities.
Example sentences
拙い文章を書いた。
I wrote a clumsy article.
Meanings across languages
- English
- bungling, clumsy, unskillful
- Tiếng Việt
- khô khan, vụng về, thiếu khéo léo
- 日本語
- 拙い, 不器用, 下手
- 한국어
- 서툴고, 어색한, 재주 없는
- 中文
- 笨拙, 笨拙, 不熟练
- id
- kekakuan
- th
- เชื่องช้า
- es
- torpe
- fr
- maladroit
- de
- ungeschickt
- pt
- desajeitado
Common compounds
- 拙速せっそくrough-and-ready, knocked-up, hasty
- 稚拙ちせつunskillful, childish, immature
- 拙守せっしゅpoor defense, poor defence
- 巧拙こうせつskill, workmanship, dexterity
- 拙劣せつれつclumsy, unskillful
- 拙いつたないpoor-quality, shoddy, crude
- 拙悪せつあくpoor (tasting), low quality, bad situation
- 拙策せっさくpoor policy, poor plan, unwise measure
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