King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “creep”

Romaji: hau
to crawl; to creep; to go on all fours

In Japanese, creep is , read (hau).

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. v5u, vi to crawl; to creep; to go on all fours
  2. v5u, vi to slither; to wriggle
  3. v5u, vi to trail (of vines, flowers, etc.); to spread; to creep

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

crawl, creep, grovel
on: シャ、ゲン
kun: は.う、は.い、むか.える、この
10 strokes

Other Japanese words for “creep”

WordReadingMeaning
クリープ kuriipucreep (gradual deformation of a solid under stress)
はいずる haizuruto creep; to crawl
はっていく hatteikuto creep; to crawl
クリープげんしょう kuriipugenshoucreep (of an automatic-transmission vehicle); idle creep

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
よばい yobaicreeping at night into a woman's bedroom; stealing into a girl's bedroom at night to make love; sneaking visit
はいずる haizuruto creep; to crawl
はいだす haidasuto crawl out; to creep out
はいまつ haimatsuJapanese stone pine (Pinus pumila); Siberian dwarf pine; creeping pine
はいはい haihaicrawling (of a baby)

See also: Chinese symbol for “creep”.

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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