天才 (てんさい, tensai) Japanese meaning: genius

天才 (てんさい, tensai) Japanese meaning: genius | Kotomora

Kanji

天heavens, sky, imperial
才genius, years old, cubic shaku

Related words· 6

秀しゅう才さいN1
天才 implies innate, almost miraculous talent, while 秀才 praises someone for academic brilliance achieved through hard work.
神しん童どう
天才 means 'genius' and can describe a person of any age, while 神童 specifically denotes a child prodigy.
逸いつ材ざいN1
天才 is the common word for an innate genius, while 逸材 more often highlights a person's exceptional professional or athletic potential.
鬼き才さい
天才 is the general, everyday word for 'genius', while 鬼才 suggests a sharper, more startling, even unsettling brilliance often tied to creative work.

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俊しゅん
天才 is the everyday modern word for 'genius', whereas 俊 is an archaic, bookish term rarely used alone in modern speech.
俊しゅん英えい
天才 is the everyday word for a broadly innate genius, whereas 俊英 is a formal term usually reserved for recognized talent in a specific field.

Opposites

凡ぼん才さい
mediocrity; ordinary ability
アホN1
天才 means a genius, the direct opposite of アホ, which labels someone as a fool.
ばかN3
馬鹿 calls someone a fool, while 天才 praises someone as a genius, putting the two at opposite ends of the intelligence scale.
凡ぼん人じんN1
天才 is a genius with extraordinary talent, the direct opposite of a 凡人, someone with no special ability.

Don't confuse with

才さい能のうN3
天才 means a genius or prodigy (a person with extraordinary ability), while 才能 is the abstract talent or ability itself that anyone can possess in some degree.

Word family

天てん才さい児じ
child prodigy
天てん才さい的てき
talented; gifted; prodigious
天てん才さい肌はだ
genius type; having the temperament of a prodigy
天てん才さい教きょう育いく
gifted education; education of gifted children

Etymology

From 天 (heaven) + 才 (talent), literally 'heaven-given talent'. The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the spelling is conventionally associated with innate, extraordinary ability.

天てん才さい

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