King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “foolishness”

Romaji: gu
foolishness; silliness; stupidity; folly

In Japanese, foolishness is , read (gu).

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. adj-na, n foolishness; silliness; stupidity; folly
  2. pn I; me

Kanji and stroke order

foolish, folly, absurdity
on: グ
kun: おろ.か
13 strokes · JLPT 1

Other Japanese words for “foolishness”

WordReadingMeaning
ち chifoolishness; fool
ちたい chitaifoolishness; silliness; stupid conduct
ぐれつ guretsufoolishness; stupidity; silliness
パー paafoolishness; stupidity
ちほう chihoustupidity; foolishness; fool

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
おろか orokafoolish; stupid; silly
ぐち guchiidle complaint; grumble
ぐこう gukoufoolish act; folly
ぐれんたい gurentaigang of young toughs; hooligans; hoodlums
ぐちょく guchokusimple honesty; tactless frankness
ぐろう guroumockery; derision; ridicule

See also: Chinese symbol for “foolishness”.

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.