Chinese symbol for “unthinkable”
不堪设想
bù kān shè xiǎng
Traditional: 不堪設想
too horrible to contemplate; unthinkable; inconceivable
The closest CC-CEDICT match for unthinkable is 不堪设想 (bù kān shè xiǎng), defined as: too horrible to contemplate; unthinkable; inconceivable.
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
Traditional forms
Other Chinese words for “unthinkable”
Related words
Other words that share a character with 不堪设想.
| 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 |
| 不堪 | bù kān | cannot bear; cannot stand |
| 难堪 (難堪) | nán kān | hard to take; embarrassed |
| 堪称 (堪稱) | kān chēng | can be rated as; can be said to be |
| 建设 (建設) | jiàn shè | to build; to construct; to establish; to develop; to institute |
| 想要 | xiǎng yào | to want to; to feel like |
See also: Japanese symbol for “unthinkable”.
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.