How to say "intuition" in Japanese

• 直感ちょっかんJLPT N1approx.Common
  noun, suru verb, transitive verbThe everyday word for intuition: an immediate hunch or gut feeling that comes without conscious reasoning. Typical context: sizing up a person or situation on the spot and acting on that snap judgment.
  警官けいかんは彼かれが犯人はんにんだと直感ちょっかんした。↗

  The police spotted him at once as the offender.
• 勘かんJLPT N3approx.Common
  nounIntuition as a knack or sixth sense, a read on things grounded in experience rather than conscious reasoning. Typical context: a veteran detective or craftsman who senses the right move before working it out.
  その新聞しんぶん記者きしゃはニュースを嗅かぎつける鋭するどい勘かんを持もっている。↗

  The newsman has a nose for news.
• 良知りょうちCommon
  nounThis is 'intuition' only in the philosophical sense: innate moral knowledge, the inborn capacity to tell right from wrong in Confucian thought. For everyday hunches it is seldom the word you want.
• 感覚かんかくJLPT N3approx.Common
  noun, suru verb, transitive verbReally about sense and sensation: physical feelings or a sense of direction. Its 'intuition' sense is a loose extension, a feel for something, so it is seldom the word you want for a hunch.
  私は指ゆびに感覚かんかくが無なかった。↗

  I had no feeling in my fingers.

Use 直感 for a hunch or gut feeling, 勘 for the experience-honed knack or sixth sense, 感覚 mainly for sense and sensation, and 良知 only for the philosophical idea of innate moral intuition.

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

• 直感ちょっかんintuition
• 勘かんperception
• 良知りょうちintuition
• 感覚かんかくsense
• 直覚ちょっかくintuition
• 第六感だいろっかんthe sixth sense