Japanese symbol for “appalling”
惨
さん
Romaji: san
appalling
In Japanese, appalling is 惨, read さん (san).
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 appalling
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “appalling”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 凄まじい | すさまじい susamajii | appalling; shocking; staggering |
| 凄惨 | せいさん seisan | ghastly; gruesome; appalling |
| 悍ましい | おぞましい ozomashii | appalling; horrifying; dreadful |
| 酸鼻 | さんび sanbi | appalling; awful; horrible |
| 大それた | だいそれた daisoreta | outrageous; wild (ambition, idea, etc.); crazy |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 悲惨 | ひさん hisan | disastrous; tragic; miserable |
| 惨敗 | ざんぱい zanpai | ignominious defeat; crushing failure; utterly beaten |
| 惨め | みじめ mijime | miserable; wretched; unhappy |
| 惨事 | さんじ sanji | disaster; tragedy; tragic incident |
| 惨状 | さんじょう sanjou | disastrous scene; terrible spectacle |
| 惨劇 | さんげき sangeki | tragedy; tragic event |
See also: Chinese symbol for “appalling”.
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.