白髪三千丈

はくはつさんぜんじょう

Meanings

1. Expression many years of stress and anxiety (as would cause one's hair to grow white) (literally: three-thousand jō of white hair (nine kilometers)) (oft. used hyperbolically) See also: 丈 (じょう).

Kanji

• 白 white. Read as ハク.
• 髪 hair. Read as ハツ.
• 三 three. Read as サン.
• 千 thousand. Read as セン.
• 丈 sturdy. Read as ジョウ.

Jinuma: Japanese Dictionary · Word lists