Japanese symbol for “dour”

根暗

ねくら

Romaji: nekura

dark-natured; gloomy; dour; moody

In Japanese, dour is 根暗, read ねくら (nekura).

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, n dark-natured; gloomy; dour; moody; insular; glum

Written forms: 根暗. Readings: ねくら、ネクラ.

Kanji and stroke order

根

root, radical, head (pimple)

on: コン
kun: ね、-ね

10 strokes · JLPT 2

暗

darkness, disappear, shade

on: アン
kun: くら.い、くら.む、くれ.る

13 strokes · JLPT 3

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
屋根	やね yane	roof
根拠	こんきょ konkyo	basis; grounds; foundation
根本	こんぽん konpon	root; source; origin
根性	こんじょう konjou	willpower; guts; determination
大根	だいこん daikon	daikon (variety of large white Oriental radish, Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus)
島根	しまね shimane	Shimane (prefecture)
暗殺	あんさつ ansatsu	assassination
真っ暗	まっくら makkura	pitch-dark; pitch-black; completely dark

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.