Word
冒険
Meaning in Englishrisk, venture, adventure
Animated kanji stroke order
Word context
What it means
冒険 means the act or experience of undertaking risky or unknown tasks; it denotes engaging in bold exploration or challenging activities for excitement, growth, or discovery.
Main meanings
- Primary sense: the experience of undertaking a journey or undertaking that involves risk or unknown outcomes, often for excitement, growth, or discovery.
- Metaphorical use: a mindset or situation characterized by daring, risk-taking, or pursuing new opportunities beyond the safe or familiar.
- In media and games: a genre or narrative motif focusing on exploration and peril; used for both real-world travel contexts and fictional adventures.
- Connotation: conveys courage and willingness to face danger; can imply a certain romance or idealization of risk.
How to use it
Used as a noun to denote a venture or the experience of exploring, with contexts spanning travel, literature, film, and everyday speech; formal and neutral registers; commonly appears in compound forms like 冒険者 and 冒険譚, and in titles and headings.
Variants and close terms
- 探検 (tanken) — exploration, expedition
- 冒険心 (bouken-shin) — adventurous spirit
- 危険を冒す (kiken o-okasu) — to risk danger
Composition
- 冒: to risk, to expose oneself, to undertake boldly.
- 険: danger, peril; difficulty or steepness; when paired, conveys risk and challenge.
Word class
Noun (名詞)