King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “fever”

Romaji: netsu
heat

In Japanese, fever is , read (netsu).

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. n heat
  2. n fever; temperature
  3. n, suf zeal; passion; enthusiasm; mania; craze; rage

Kanji and stroke order

heat, temperature, fever
on: ネツ
kun: あつ.い
15 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “fever”

WordReadingMeaning
ねつびょう netsubyoufever; febrile disease
フィーバー fiibaafever (state of excitement)
ねっき nekkifever
はつねつ hatsunetsu(attack of) fever; pyrexia
ねっぱつ neppatsufever

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
ねっしん nesshinzealous; enthusiastic; ardent
あつい atsuihot (to the touch)
じょうねつ jounetsupassion; enthusiasm; zeal
ねったい nettaitropics
ねつい netsuizeal; enthusiasm; ardor
ねっき nekkiheat; hot air

See also: Chinese symbol for “fever”.

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.