Japanese symbol for “degeneration”
悪化
あっか
Romaji: akka
deterioration; getting worse; worsening; aggravation
In Japanese, degeneration is 悪化, read あっか (akka).
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 deterioration; getting worse; worsening; aggravation; degeneration; corruption
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “degeneration”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 衰退 | すいたい suitai | decline; degeneration; decay |
| 退化 | たいか taika | degeneration; retrogression; atrophy |
| 退廃 | たいはい taihai | (moral) decay; (social) decline; decadence |
| 変質 | へんしつ henshitsu | alteration (of character or essence); change in quality; transformation |
| 変性 | へんせい hensei | denaturation; degeneration |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 最悪 | さいあく saiaku | worst |
| 悪口 | わるぐち waruguchi | (verbal) abuse; speaking ill of people; bad-mouthing |
| 悪魔 | あくま akuma | devil; demon; fiend |
| 悪い | わるい warui | bad; poor; undesirable |
| 悪質 | あくしつ akushitsu | malicious; vicious; malignant |
| 文化 | ぶんか bunka | culture; civilization; civilisation |
| 変化 | へんか henka | change; variation; alteration |
| 強化 | きょうか kyouka | strengthening; intensifying; reinforcement |
See also: Chinese symbol for “degeneration”.
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.