King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “complain”

Romaji: uttaeru
to raise; to bring to (someone's attention)

In Japanese, complain is , read (uttaeru).

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. v1, vt to raise; to bring to (someone's attention)
  2. v1, vt to appeal to (reason, emotions, etc.); to work on (one's emotions); to play on (one's sympathies)
  3. v1, vt to complain
  4. v1, vt to sue (a person); to take someone to court
  5. v1, vt to resort to (e.g. arms, violence)

Kanji and stroke order

accusation, sue, complain of pain
on: ソ
kun: うった.える
12 strokes · JLPT 1

Other Japanese words for “complain”

WordReadingMeaning
ならす narasuto state; to insist; to complain
ぐちる guchiruto grumble; to gripe; to complain
ものもうす monomousuto object; to protest; to complain
ぼやく boyakuto grumble; to complain
くいつく kuitsukuto complain; to bicker

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
そしょう soshoulawsuit; suit; (legal) action
うったえ uttaelawsuit; complaint
きそ kisoprosecution; indictment
こうそ kousoappeal to a higher court; intermediate appeal
こくそ kokusoaccusation; complaint; charge

See also: Chinese symbol for “complain”.

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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