Japanese symbol for “crawling”
匍匐
ほふく
Romaji: hofuku
creeping; crawling; sneaking
In Japanese, crawling is 匍匐, read ほふく (hofuku).
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
- n, vi, vs creeping; crawling; sneaking
Written forms: 匍匐、蒲伏. Readings: ほふく.
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “crawling”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| クロール | クロール kurooru | (web) crawling |
| ぞろぞろ | ぞろぞろ zorozoro | crawling (of insects); swarming |
| もぞもぞ | もぞもぞ mozomozo | creeping (of an insect, etc.); crawling |
| 這い這い | はいはい haihai | crawling (of a baby) |
| 爬行 | はこう hakou | creeping; crawling |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 匍球 | ほきゅう hokyuu | ground ball; grounder |
| 匍匐前進 | ほふくぜんしん hofukuzenshin | crawling forward (on one's stomach) |
| 匍匐茎 | ほふくけい hofukukei | stolon; runner; creeper |
| 匐行疹 | ふくこうしん fukukoushin | ringworm; serpigo |
| 匐枝 | ふくし fukushi | stolon; runner |
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.