King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Chinese symbol for “cowardly”

懦弱
nuò ruò
cowardly; weak

The closest CC-CEDICT match for cowardly is 懦弱 (nuò ruò), defined as: cowardly; weak.

Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.

Characters and stroke order

懦 nuò
weak, timid, cowardly
radical 61 ⼼ · 17 strokes
弱 ruò
weak, fragile, delicate
radical 57 ⼸ · 10 strokes

Other Chinese words for “cowardly”

WordPinyinMeaning
懦nuò(bound form) cowardly; faint-hearted
怯懦qiè nuòtimid; cowardly; chicken-hearted
鼠胆 (鼠膽)shǔ dǎncowardly
胆怯 (膽怯)dǎn qiètimidity; timid
怯qiètimid; cowardly

Related words

Other words that share a character with 懦弱.

WordPinyinMeaning
懦夫nuò fūcoward
怯懦qiè nuòtimid; cowardly; chicken-hearted
愚懦yú nuòignorant and timid
脆弱cuì ruòweak; frail
削弱xuē ruòto weaken; to impair
弱点 (弱點)ruò diǎnweak point; failing
减弱 (減弱)jiǎn ruòto weaken; to diminish
软弱 (軟弱)ruǎn ruòweak; feeble

See also: Japanese symbol for “cowardly”.

Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3); Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License (graphics.txt); LGPL-3.0-or-later (dictionary.txt)); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.

Last posts

  1. Choosing a Bokken with Scabbard for Iaido Beginners
  2. Is a Plastic Saya Worth Adding to a Bokken for Drawing?
  3. Choosing the Best Aikido Bokken for Daily Training
  4. Choosing the Best Heavy Bokken for Suburi Training
  5. Are Bamboo Practice Swords Safer Than Wooden Ones
  6. Choosing the Best Wooden Sword Stand for Your Collection
  7. Why Bokken Crack and Which Woods Handle Impact Best
  8. Best Bokken Bags and Cases for Martial Arts Training
  9. Choosing the Best Wooden Tanto for Realistic Knife Drills
  10. What Is a Suburito and Is It Worth Buying for Strength