勤倹力行 (きんけんりっこう)

Today’s Yojijukugo is 勤倹力行 (きんけんりっこう).

• Meaning:
  • Definition: 仕事に励み、倹約し、努力して精一杯行うこと。
  • Literal translation: Work hard, save money, and do one’s best.
  • Meaning: To work hard and practice frugality

• Composition:
  • 勤倹 (きんけん): This word combines the character for “diligence” and “to be employed” (勤) with the one for “frugal” or “economy” (倹). It thus means “to work diligently while being frugal“.
  • 力行 (りっこう): This combines the character for “power” or “strain” (力) with the one for “to go” or “to act” (行). It thus means “strenuous efforts“.

• Notes:
  • While the word 勤倹 could be considered enough to express the whole meaning of this yojijukugo, the added part 力行 insists on the effort put towards work and frugality.
  • 力行 can also be read either of the following: 「りきこう」, 「りょっこう」or「りょくこう」.
  • The traditional character for 倹 is 儉.
  • Careful not to write 「勤倹」 as 「勤険」.

• Example:
  • 彼が何十年も勤倹力行して、貯金を多量貯めてきました。
  • かれがなんねんもきんけんりっこうして、ちょきんをたりょうためてきました。
  • He worked hard and stayed frugal for decades, and saved up a lot of money.

This Yojijukugo is in the Kanji Kentei Level 3 (三級) and doesn’t have a synonym.

Some resources online consider 精励恪勤 (せいれいかっきん, meaning “assiduousness”) or 奮励努力 (ふんれいどりょく, meaning “exerting oneself​”) as synonyms of 勤倹力行 but the official dictionary of Yojijukugo does not. The reason for this is certainly that 精励恪勤 and 奮励努力 do not mention the “frugal” aspect and only regard the efforts done.

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勤倹力行して、人生の目標に向かいましょう！