Chinese symbol for “uneasy”

不自在

bù zì zai

uneasy; ill at ease

The closest CC-CEDICT match for uneasy is 不自在 (bù zì zai), defined as: uneasy; ill at ease.

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

不 bù

no, not, un-; negative prefix

radical 1 ⼀ · 4 strokes

自 zì

self; private, personal; from

radical 132 ⾃ · 6 strokes

在 zai

at, in, on; to exist; used to indicate the present progressive tense

radical 32 ⼟ · 6 strokes

Other Chinese words for “uneasy”

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
担心 (擔心)	dān xīn	anxious; worried
不安	bù ān	unpeaceful; unstable
仄	zè	to tilt; narrow
忡	chōng	grieved; distressed
心怀忐忑 (心懷忐忑)	xīn huái tǎn tè	(idiom) anxious; uneasy; filled with trepidation

Related words

Other words that share a character with 不自在.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
不是	bù shì	no; is not
不能	bù néng	cannot; must not
不会 (不會)	bù huì	improbable; unlikely
不过 (不過)	bù guò	only; merely
不同	bù tóng	different; distinct
自己	zì jǐ	oneself; (attributive) one's own
自由	zì yóu	freedom; liberty; free; unrestricted
来自 (來自)	lái zì	to come from (a place); From: (in email header)
现在 (現在)	xiàn zài	now; at present; currently

See also: Japanese symbol for “uneasy”.

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.