Japanese symbol for “catastrophic”
壊滅的
かいめつてき
Romaji: kaimetsuteki
devastating; catastrophic; crushing
In Japanese, catastrophic is 壊滅的, read かいめつてき (kaimetsuteki).
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-na devastating; catastrophic; crushing
Written forms: 壊滅的、潰滅的. Readings: かいめつてき.
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “catastrophic”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 破滅的 | はめつてき hametsuteki | destructive; catastrophic; disastrous |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 破壊 | はかい hakai | destruction; disruption |
| 崩壊 | ほうかい houkai | collapse; crumbling; breaking down |
| 壊す | こわす kowasu | to break; to destroy; to demolish |
| 壊れる | こわれる kowareru | to be broken; to break; to fall apart |
| 壊滅 | かいめつ kaimetsu | (complete) destruction; annihilation; devastation |
| 倒壊 | とうかい toukai | destruction; collapse; crumbling |
| 消滅 | しょうめつ shoumetsu | extinction; extinguishment; disappearance |
| 破滅 | はめつ hametsu | ruin; destruction; fall |
| 目的 | もくてき mokuteki | purpose; goal; aim |
See also: Chinese symbol for “catastrophic”.
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.