Japanese symbol for “concave”
凹
おう
Romaji: ou
concave; hollow; sunken
In Japanese, concave is 凹, read おう (ou).
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
- pref concave; hollow; sunken
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “concave”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 凹面 | おうめん oumen | concave |
| 中低 | なかびく nakabiku | hollow; concave |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 凹凸 | おうとつ outotsu | unevenness; bumpiness; roughness |
| 凸凹 | でこぼこ dekoboko | unevenness; roughness; ruggedness |
| 凹み | くぼみ kubomi | hollow; cavity; dent |
| 凹む | へこむ hekomu | to be dented; to be indented; to yield |
| 凹面 | おうめん oumen | concavity |
| 凹版 | おうはん ouhan | intaglio plate |
See also: Chinese symbol for “concave”.
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.