Emaki · all 1,500 words

緊張

きんちょう

tension, strain, nervousness

Mnemonic

Thread pulled until it will not give, and a bow drawn long. Two things at full stretch. A kin きん of yours chewing ちょう his nails while you speak, and your voice has gone elsewhere: きんちょう.

Worth knowing

緊張する is to be nervous. Same 張 as 頑張る がんばる, where the stretch is effort rather than nerves.

Built from

tight, tense
糸 thread at the bottom, pulled until it will not give any further.
stretch, strain
弓 bow + 長 long

Words sharing these kanji

to persevere, to do one's best to pull, to drag to strain, to be stretched

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Emaki is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, Kaishi 1.5k or its authors. The word, reading and meaning come from the Kaishi 1.5k deck, used with their permission. The mnemonic, the note and the kanji breakdown are original work, published under CC BY-SA 4.0.