Japanese symbol for “flaw”

欠陥

けっかん

Romaji: kekkan

defect; fault; flaw; deformity

In Japanese, flaw is 欠陥, read けっかん (kekkan).

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

n defect; fault; flaw; deformity; deficiency; shortage

Kanji and stroke order

欠

lack, gap, fail

on: ケツ、ケン
kun: か.ける、か.く

4 strokes · JLPT 2

陥

collapse, fall into, cave in

on: カン
kun: おちい.る、おとしい.れる

10 strokes · JLPT 1

Other Japanese words for “flaw”

Word	Reading	Meaning
弱点	じゃくてん jakuten	weak point; weakness; shortcoming
欠点	けってん ketten	fault; defect; flaw
穴	あな ana	flaw; fault; defect
傷	きず kizu	flaw; defect; weakness
難点	なんてん nanten	fault; weakness; flaw

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
不可欠	ふかけつ fukaketsu	indispensable; essential
欠点	けってん ketten	fault; defect; flaw
欠席	けっせき kesseki	absence; non-attendance
欠如	けつじょ ketsujo	lack; absence; shortage
補欠	ほけつ hoketsu	filling a vacancy; supplementation
陥る	おちいる ochiiru	to fall into (e.g. a hole)
陥落	かんらく kanraku	subsidence; sinking; cave-in
陥没	かんぼつ kanbotsu	cave-in; collapse; sinking

See also: Chinese symbol for “flaw”.

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.