Japanese symbol for “cringe”
引く
ひく
Romaji: hiku
to pull; to tug; to lead (e.g. a horse)
In Japanese, cringe is 引く, read ひく (hiku).
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
- v5k, vt to pull; to tug; to lead (e.g. a horse)
- v5k, vt to draw (attention, sympathy, etc.); to attract (e.g. interest)
- v5k, vt to draw back (e.g. one's hand); to draw in (one's chin, stomach, etc.); to pull in
- v5k, vt to draw (a card, mahjong tile, etc.)
- v5k, vt to draw (a line, plan, etc.)
- v5k, vt to catch (a cold)
Written forms: 引く、曳く、牽く. Readings: ひく.
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “cringe”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 辟易 | へきえき hekieki | to wince; to shrink back; to cringe |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 取引 | とりひき torihiki | transactions; dealings; business |
| 引退 | いんたい intai | retirement |
| 割引 | わりびき waribiki | discount; reduction; rebate |
| 引き続き | ひきつづき hikitsuzuki | continuously; continually; without a break |
| 引用 | いんよう in'you | quotation; citation; reference |
| 引っ越し | ひっこし hikkoshi | moving (dwelling, office, etc.); changing residence |
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.