Japanese symbol for “fail”
落ちる
おちる
Romaji: ochiru
to fall; to drop; to come down; to crash
In Japanese, fail is 落ちる, read おちる (ochiru).
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
- v1, vi to fall; to drop; to come down; to crash; to collapse; to cave in
- v1, vi to set (of the sun or moon); to sink; to dip; to go down
- v1, vi to decrease (of popularity, quality, speed, sales, etc.); to fall; to drop; to go down; to decline; to deteriorate
- v1, vi to be inferior (to); to be not as good (as); to fall short (of)
- v1, vi to come off (of dirt, paint, makeup, etc.); to come out (of a stain); to fade (of colour); to be removed (of an illness, possessing spirit, etc.)
- v1, vi to disappear (of excess fat); to become thinner; to become leaner
Written forms: 落ちる、墜ちる、落る. Readings: おちる.
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “fail”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 溢れる | あぶれる abureru | to fail (in getting a job); to miss out (at fishing, hunting, etc.) |
| 見捨てる | みすてる misuteru | to abandon; to fail; to desert |
| 欠かす | かかす kakasu | to miss (doing); to fail (to do) |
| 滑る | すべる suberu | to fail (an examination) |
| 落とす | おとす otosu | to lose (a match); to reject (an applicant); to fail (a course) |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 落ち | おち ochi | slip; omission |
| 墜落 | ついらく tsuiraku | fall; crash (of an aircraft) |
| 落とす | おとす otosu | to drop; to lose; to let fall |
| 落語 | らくご rakugo | rakugo; traditional Japanese comic storytelling; comic story (told by a professional storyteller) |
| 落下 | らっか rakka | fall; drop; descent |
See also: Chinese symbol for “fail”.
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.