Japanese symbol for “feverishly”

齷齪

あくせく

Romaji: akuseku

busily; sedulously; laboriously; feverishly

In Japanese, feverishly is 齷齪, read あくせく (akuseku).

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

adv, adv-to, vs busily; sedulously; laboriously; feverishly; fussily; worrying (about little things)

Written forms: 齷齪、偓促、あく促. Readings: あくせく、あくさく.

Kanji and stroke order

齷

grating the teeth, fretful

on: アク

24 strokes

齪

grating the teeth

on: サク、ソク、セク、シュク
kun: せま.る

22 strokes

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.