Chinese symbol for “unkind”

刻薄

kè bó

unkind; harsh; cutting; mean

The closest CC-CEDICT match for unkind is 刻薄 (kè bó), defined as: unkind; harsh; cutting; mean; acrimony; to embezzle by making illegal deductions.

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

刻 kè

to carve, to engrave; a quarter hour; a moment

radical 18 ⼑ · 8 strokes

薄 bó

thin, slight; meager, weak; poor, stingy

radical 140 ⾋ · 17 strokes

Related words

Other words that share a character with 刻薄.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
时刻 (時刻)	shí kè	time; juncture
立刻	lì kè	immediately; at once; right away
深刻	shēn kè	profound; deep
此刻	cǐ kè	this moment; now
一刻	yī kè	a quarter of an hour; 15 minutes; a moment; an instant
刻意	kè yì	intentionally; deliberately; purposely; painstakingly; meticulously
薄弱	bó ruò	weak; frail
薄膜	bó mó	membrane; film

See also: Japanese symbol for “unkind”.

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.