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肝心 (かんじん, kanjin) Japanese meaning: essential | Kotomora
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肝かん 心じん な の は 、 最さい 後ご まで あきらめ ない こと だ 。
The essential thing is not to give up until the end.
He's never around at the crucial moment.
Usage patterns 肝かん 心じん な 〈 事こと 〉 the crucial thing/point
I forgot the most crucial thing.
肝かん 心じん な 〈 時とき 〉 に at the critical moment
My phone battery died at the critical moment.
肝かん 心じん なのは 〈 事こと 〉 だ what really matters is...
What matters most is not giving up until the end.
Related words 重要 is a formal, objective term for 'important' used in reports and business, while 肝心 stresses the one indispensable element in a given situation.
大切 conveys personal or emotional value (cherishing something), whereas 肝心 points to functional necessity for success or understanding.
大事 is a broad everyday word for 'important', while 肝心 is narrower, singling out the single most critical part.
肝要 is a more literary/formal synonym of 肝心, often found in writing or set phrases, while 肝心 is common in everyday speech.
Don't confuse with 関心 (かんしん, 'interest/concern') sounds close to 肝心 (かんじん, 'essential') but differs by voicing and has a completely different meaning.
感心 (かんしん, 'admiration') is easily confused with 肝心 (かんじん, 'essential') due to their near-identical pronunciation despite unrelated meanings.
肝心 is a fixed adjectival compound meaning 'essential,' while 肝 alone is a noun that can mean the crux of something in phrases like 話の肝.
Written forms 肝かん 心じん Usage 87%
Standard kanji spelling; high-frequency in news and general use.
肝かん 腎じん Usage 9%
rarely-used kanji form
Rarely used kanji form; 肝心 is overwhelmingly preferred.
かんじん Usage 4%
カンジン Usage <1%
Etymology Composed of 肝 (liver) and 心 (heart), both considered vital organs in traditional East Asian medicine, thus metaphorically meaning 'essential' or 'crucial'.
勧かん
進じん
肝心 (also read かんじん) means 'essential, crucial' and is unrelated in meaning to 勧進, which refers to temple fundraising; the two are pure homophones.
