Chinese symbol for “cry”
哭
kū
to cry; to weep
The closest CC-CEDICT match for cry is 哭 (kū), defined as: to cry; to weep.
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
Other Chinese words for “cry”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 鸣 (鳴) | míng | to cry (of birds, animals and insects); to make a sound |
| 啼 | tí | (bound form) to cry; to weep loudly; (bound form) (of a bird or animal) to crow; to hoot; to screech |
| 啼哭 | tí kū | to cry; to wail |
| 呼 | hū | to call; to cry |
| 号哭 (號哭) | háo kū | to bawl; to wail |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 哭.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 哭泣 | kū qì | to weep |
| 大哭 | dà kū | to cry loudly |
| 痛哭 | tòng kū | to cry bitterly |
| 哭喊 | kū hǎn | to wail |
| 哭声 (哭聲) | kū shēng | sound of weeping |
| 哭诉 (哭訴) | kū sù | to lament; to complain tearfully |
See also: Japanese symbol for “cry”.
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.