King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “desolate”

Romaji: sabishii
lonely (e.g. person, feeling); lonesome; forlorn

In Japanese, desolate is , read (sabishii).

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. adj-i lonely (e.g. person, feeling); lonesome; forlorn
  2. adj-i desolate; deserted; lonely (e.g. place); isolated; solitary
  3. adj-i sad
  4. adj-i lacking; wanting; insufficient

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

loneliness, quietly, mellow
on: ジャク、セキ
kun: さび、さび.しい、さび.れる、さみ.しい
11 strokes · JLPT 1

Other Japanese words for “desolate”

WordReadingMeaning
こうりょう kouryoudesolate; dreary; bleak
せきばく sekibakulonely; lonesome; dreary
じゃくまく jakumakulonely; lonesome; dreary
らくばく rakubakudesolate; dreary; lonesome
しょうりょう shouryoudesolate; lonely; barren

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
せいじゃく seijakusilence; stillness; quietness
さびしげ sabishigeseeming lonely
せきりょう sekiryouloneliness; desolateness
せきばく sekibakulonely; lonesome; dreary

See also: Chinese symbol for “desolate”.

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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