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難聴 (なんちょう) Japanese meaning | Kotomora
Common word Freq. Frequency Top 20,000 Meanings 1
noun
hearing loss ; hardness of hearing ; deafness
medicine
Medical and everyday term for reduced ability to hear, ranging from mild hearing difficulty to deafness. Often used with causes such as 加齢による難聴 or with terms like 補聴器.
子こ ども の 難なん 聴ちょう は 早そう 期き 発はっ 見けん が 大たい 切せつ だ 。
Early detection is important for hearing loss in children.
2
noun
poor reception ; area with poor reception
Non-medical use for poor radio, TV, or similar signal reception, especially in compounds such as 難聴地域. This is more specialized than the medical sense.
Kanji 難 difficult, impossible, trouble 聴 listen, headstrong, naughty Similar words 聴ちょう 覚かく 障しょう 害がい Broader term for a hearing impairment or hearing disability; 難聴 focuses on difficulty hearing or hearing loss.
耳みみ が 遠とお い Everyday phrase meaning someone is hard of hearing, often used especially of older people; 難聴 is more noun-like and medical.
受じゅ 信しん 障しょう 害がい Used for reception problems with broadcasts or signals; it overlaps with the non-medical 難聴 sense but is more explicit and not confused with hearing loss.
Etymology Sino-Japanese compound of 難, associated with difficulty, and 聴, associated with hearing or listening; together it means difficulty hearing. This component explanation is not a claim about the word's full historical development.
