How to say "backbone" in Japanese

• 背骨せぼねCommon
  nounThe literal sense: the spine, the column of bones running down your back. Choose this when you mean the physical structure — posture, injury, back pain.
  私の背骨せぼねの痛いたみはひどくなっています。↗

  The pain in my back is getting worse.
• 中堅ちゅうけんCommon
  nounThe figurative sense: the backbone of a company, team, or organization — its dependable central members. A person described this way is a key figure holding things up.
• 気概きがいCommon
  nounBackbone as character: strong spirit, mettle, guts. Use it for someone who shows courage and determination in the face of hardship — a person 'with backbone'.
• 中枢ちゅうすうJLPT N1approx.Common
  nounMeans the central pivot or hub of an organization or system — the core that everything else depends on. As a rendering of 'backbone' it is marginal; the word really says 'center'.
  東京とうきょうは今いまや世界せかい経済けいざいの中枢ちゅうすうだ。↗

  Tokyo is now a center of the world economy.
• 脊椎せきついCommon
  nounThe anatomical term for the vertebral column — the spine viewed as a structure of vertebrae. This is the word you meet in medical, biological, or scientific discussion of the backbone.

Use 背骨 or 脊椎 for the literal spine (the latter anatomical), 中堅 for the mainstay of an organization, 気概 for backbone as grit or mettle, and treat 中枢 as 'central pivot' rather than backbone.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

• 背骨せぼねspine
• 中堅ちゅうけんnucleus
• 気概きがいstrong spirit
• 中枢ちゅうすうcentre
• 脊椎せきついspine
• 意気地いくじself-respect
• 中骨なかぼねbackbone (of a fish)
• 反骨の精神はんこつのせいしんbackbone
• グリットgrit
• スパインspine
• 土性骨どしょうぼねone's innate character
• バックボーン(emotional) backbone
• 気骨きこつ(moral) backbone
• 幹みきbackbone
• 硬骨こうこつfirmness (of character)
• 大黒柱だいこくばしらmainstay (e.g. of an economy)
• 骨っ節ほねっぷしbackbone
• 脊梁せきりょうspinal column
• 骨ほねbackbone