Japanese symbol for “annihilating”

討滅

とうめつ

Romaji: toumetsu

destroying; annihilating; eradicating

In Japanese, annihilating is 討滅, read とうめつ (toumetsu).

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

n, vs destroying; annihilating; eradicating

Kanji and stroke order

討

chastise, attack, defeat

on: トウ
kun: う.つ

10 strokes · JLPT 1

滅

destroy, ruin, overthrow

on: メツ
kun: ほろ.びる、ほろ.ぶ、ほろ.ぼす

13 strokes · JLPT 1

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
検討	けんとう kentou	consideration; examination; investigation
討論	とうろん touron	debate; discussion
討議	とうぎ tougi	debate; discussion
討つ	うつ utsu	to attack; to destroy; to defeat
掃討	そうとう soutou	cleaning up (enemy remnants); sweeping clean (of opponents); mopping up
討伐	とうばつ toubatsu	subjugation (using military force); suppression; subduing
消滅	しょうめつ shoumetsu	extinction; extinguishment; disappearance
破滅	はめつ hametsu	ruin; destruction; fall

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.