敏感

• Reading: びんかん
• Romaji: binkan
• Kanji breakdown: 敏 (bin) — quick, alert; 感 (kan) — sense, feeling
• Pronunciation: /biŋkaɴ/

Meaning

Sensitive; responsive; susceptible. Describes heightened reaction to physical sensations, emotions, or social stimuli.

A na-adjective covering both physical sensitivity (敏感肌 — sensitive skin) and emotional or social acuity (批判に敏感 — sensitive to criticism). Unlike the English word, 敏感 can carry positive connotations of perceptiveness and awareness, particularly in creative or interpersonal contexts.

Examples

1. 彼は音に敏感で、小さな物音でも夜中に目が覚める。 He is sensitive to sound and wakes up in the middle of the night at even the slightest noise.
2. 肌が敏感な人は化粧品の成分表示をよく確認する必要がある。 People with sensitive skin need to carefully check the ingredient labels on cosmetics.
3. 政治的な話題については非常に敏感な反応を示す国もある。 Some countries show extremely sensitive reactions to political topics.

Usage Guide

Context: health, psychology, social, beauty

Tone: neutral

Origin & History

Compound of 敏 (quick, agile, alert) and 感 (sense, feeling). Both characters entered Japanese via Chinese. 敏 originally described physical quickness; combined with 感, the compound evolved to mean keenly responsive to stimuli of any kind.

Cultural Context

Era: Modern

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal