大胆不敵 daitanfuteki Fearless

大胆不敵 (daitanfuteki): fearless, bold and afraid of no one, the nerve to do what others fear to do and to treat no one as a match.

大胆 (daitan) is boldness, having the nerve for what ordinary people shrink from; 不敵 (futeki) is no rival, the word for someone so strong that no one can stand against them, and by extension someone who fears no one.

Together they praise nerve, and Japanese has always praised it on both sides of the law: the word is said of a puppet general's son who will restore a dynasty and of a lone rider who resolves to ride into the enemy camp, and just as readily of bandits and of a burglar who dozes off in the bed he has robbed. That is the edge a person who chooses it should feel: this is nerve with swagger in it, I fear no one, where 不動心 (fudōshin) is stillness and 勇気 (yūki) is courage.

Fearless is the English Hepburn's dictionary gave 不敵 in 1867, and daring; audacious beside it keeps the edge.

大胆不敵 is composed of the words 大胆 (read daitan) meaning "fearless; bold; daring; audacious" and 不敵 (read futeki) meaning "daring; fearless; bold; intrepid".

We want you to be as happy with the meaning as you are with Master Takase's art. To learn more, visit Philology of 大胆不敵.

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Eri Takase was born and raised in Osaka, Japan, and holds the rank of Shihan, the highest rank in Japanese calligraphy, from the Bokuteki-kai and the Bunka-shodo. About Master Takase