Japanese symbol for “amazed”

愕然

がくぜん

Romaji: gakuzen

astonished; shocked; amazed; astounded

In Japanese, amazed is 愕然, read がくぜん (gakuzen).

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.

Meanings

adj-t, adv-to astonished; shocked; amazed; astounded; aghast

Written forms: 愕然、がく然. Readings: がくぜん.

Kanji and stroke order

愕

surprised, frightened

on: ガク
kun: おどろ.く

12 strokes

然

sort of thing, so, if so

on: ゼン、ネン
kun: しか、しか.り、しか.し、さ

12 strokes · JLPT 2

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
驚愕	きょうがく kyougaku	astonishment; amazement; surprise
自然	しぜん shizen	nature
当然	とうぜん touzen	natural; right; proper
全然	ぜんぜん zenzen	(not) at all; (not) in the slightest
突然	とつぜん totsuzen	abrupt; sudden; unexpected
天然	てんねん tennen	nature; spontaneity
偶然	ぐうぜん guuzen	coincidence; chance; accident

See also: Chinese symbol for “amazed”.

Data: JMdict (CC BY-SA 4.0); KANJIDIC2 (CC BY-SA 4.0); KanjiVG (CC BY-SA 3.0); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.