Standard Lemma guide

shuriken

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • sho͞or'ĭk-ən
  • /ˈʃuː.ɹɪ.kən/
  • sho͝or'ĭk-ən
  • /ˈʃʊə.ɹɪ.kən/
  • Canada, US, also: shûr'ĭk-ən
  • Canada, US, also: /ˈʃɝ.ɪ.kən/
  • rhymes with -uːɹɪkən
  • rhymes with -ʊəɹɪkən
  • rhymes with -ɜːɹɪkən

1

noun

Meaning 1

A dart or throwing blade, sometimes with multiple points, used as a weapon by ninja (or samurai).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: ninja star, throwing star

Antonyms: none provided

Narrower terms: shaken

History

Etymology

From Japanese 手裏剣 (しゅりけん shuriken), from Middle Chinese 手 (ʃúw "hand") + 裏 (lí "inside") + 劍 (kjæ̀m "sword").

Across languages

Translations

28 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: شُورِيكِن (šūrīkin) — a ninja weapon
  • Arabic: شُورِيكِين (šūrīkīn) — a ninja weapon
  • Armenian: սուրիկեն (suriken) — a ninja weapon
  • Bengali: শুরিকেন (śuriken) — a ninja weapon
  • Bulgarian: шурике́н (šurikén) — a ninja weapon
  • Chinese Mandarin: 手裡劍 /手里剑 (shǒulǐjiàn) — a ninja weapon
  • Chinese Mandarin: 手裏劍 /手里剑 (shǒulǐjiàn) — a ninja weapon
  • Esperanto: ŝurikeno — a ninja weapon
  • Finnish: shuriken — a ninja weapon
  • Finnish: heittotähti — a ninja weapon
  • Hebrew: שוריקן (shuriken) — a ninja weapon
  • Hungarian: dobócsillag — a ninja weapon
  • Hungarian: suriken — a ninja weapon
  • Ido: shuriken — a ninja weapon
  • Indonesian: syuriken — a ninja weapon
  • Japanese: 手裏剣 (shuriken) — a ninja weapon
  • Korean: 슈리켄 (syuriken) — a ninja weapon
  • Korean: 수리검 (surigeom) — a ninja weapon
  • Marathi: शुरिकेन (śuriken) — a ninja weapon
  • Mongolian: шүрикен (šüriken) — a ninja weapon
  • Persian: شوریکن (šuriken) — a ninja weapon
  • Portuguese: shuriken — a ninja weapon
  • Russian: сюрике́н (sjurikén) — a ninja weapon
  • Swedish: kaststjärna — a ninja weapon
  • Thai: ชูริเคน (chooríkayn) — a ninja weapon
  • Thai: ดาวกระจาย — a ninja weapon
  • Vietnamese: phi tiêu — a ninja weapon
  • Vietnamese: thủ lí kiếm — a ninja weapon