King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “awesome”

Romaji: osoreooi
awesome; awe-inspiring; august; gracious

In Japanese, awesome is , read (osoreooi).

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

  1. adj-i awesome; awe-inspiring; august; gracious
  2. adj-i discourteous (to a superior); lacking due respect

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

fear, dread, awe
on: キョウ
kun: おそ.れる、おそ.る、おそ.ろしい、こわ.い
10 strokes · JLPT 2
many, frequent, much
on: タ
kun: おお.い、まさ.に、まさ.る
6 strokes · JLPT 4

Other Japanese words for “awesome”

WordReadingMeaning
パネェ paneeawesome; amazing; incredible
おそるべし osorubeshiawesome; incredible
さいのこう sainokouawesome; the best
まんじ manjiwow; yeah; ugh
どえらい doeraiimmense; awesome; enormous

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
おそれ osorefear; horror; anxiety
きょうふ kyoufufear; dread; dismay
おそろしい osoroshiiterrible; dreadful; terrifying
おそらく osorakuprobably; (most) likely; in all likelihood
おそれる osoreruto fear; to be afraid of
きょうりゅう kyouryuudinosaur
たすう tasuularge number (of); many
たぶん tabunprobably; likely; perhaps

See also: Chinese symbol for “awesome”.

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.

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