King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “dingy”

Romaji: kogitanai
somehow dirty; slightly dirty; dingy

In Japanese, dingy is , read (kogitanai).

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 somehow dirty; slightly dirty; dingy
  2. adj-i somewhat base; vaguely underhanded

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

little, small
on: ショウ
kun: ちい.さい、こ-、お-、さ-
3 strokes · JLPT 4
dirty, pollute, disgrace
on: オ
kun: けが.す、けが.れる、けが.らわしい、よご.す
6 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “dingy”

WordReadingMeaning
びんぼうくさい binboukusaishabby; mean; sorry

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
しょうせつ shousetsunovel; story; (work of) fiction
しょうがっこう shougakkouprimary school; elementary school; grade school
しょうがくせい shougakuseielementary school student; primary school student; grade school student
こがた kogatasmall-sized; small-scale; miniature
ちいさい chiisaismall; little; tiny
しゅくしょう shukushoureduction; curtailment; cut
おせん osenpollution; contamination
よごれ yogoredirt; filth; stain

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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