karoshi
/kəˈɹəʊʃi/noun
karoshi is spelled K-A-R-O-S-H-I: 7 letters. It appears about once in every 52 million words in written English, the 225,584th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, karoshi means “Death, such as from heart attack or stroke, brought on by overwork or job-related stress” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in karoshi?
| Letters | 7: K-A-R-O-S-H-I |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 52 million words; the 225,584th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is karoshi?
Karoshi appears about once in every 52 million words in written English, the 225,584th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce karoshi?
- /kəˈɹəʊʃi/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-karoshi.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What does karoshi mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Death, such as from heart attack or stroke, brought on by overwork or job-related stress.
In Japan there is a word for the consequences of extreme busyness: karoshi, which means 'death from overwork'. Karoshi happens when chronic fatigue, stemming from long hours and persistent stress, leads to stroke and heart disease. For most
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Karoshi in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense death from overwork:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | karoshi |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does karoshi come from?
Borrowed from Japanese 過労死 (karōshi), from 過労 (karō, “overwork”) + 死 (shi, “death”). Doublet of guolaosi and gwarosa.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).