Japanese symbol for “desperation”
自暴自棄
じぼうじき
Romaji: jiboujiki
desperation; despair; self-abandonment
In Japanese, desperation is 自暴自棄, read じぼうじき (jiboujiki).
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
- adj-na, adj-no, n desperation; despair; self-abandonment
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “desperation”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 自棄 | やけ yake | desperation; despair; self-abandonment |
| 苦し紛れ | くるしまぎれ kurushimagire | (out of) desperation; (as a) last resort; (driven by) pain |
| 自棄 | じき jiki | desperation; self-abandonment |
| 破れかぶれ | やぶれかぶれ yaburekabure | desperation; self-abandonment |
| 窮余 | きゅうよ kyuuyo | extremity; desperation |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 自分 | じぶん jibun | myself; yourself; oneself |
| 自身 | じしん jishin | (one's) self; oneself; yourself |
| 自由 | じゆう jiyuu | freedom; liberty |
| 自然 | しぜん shizen | nature |
| 自己 | じこ jiko | self; oneself |
| 自動 | じどう jidou | automatic |
| 暴力 | ぼうりょく bouryoku | violence; mayhem |
| 暴動 | ぼうどう boudou | insurrection; riot; uprising |
| 放棄 | ほうき houki | abandonment; renouncement; renunciation |
See also: Chinese symbol for “desperation”.
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.