King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “frighten”

Romaji: odosu
to threaten; to menace; to frighten (into doing)

In Japanese, frighten is , read (odosu).

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. v5s, vt to threaten; to menace; to frighten (into doing)

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

threaten, coerce
on: キョウ
kun: おびや.かす、おど.す、おど.かす
10 strokes · JLPT 1

Other Japanese words for “frighten”

WordReadingMeaning
おどろかす odorokasuto surprise; to frighten; to create a stir
おびやかす obiyakasuto intimidate; to frighten; to scare
あっとう attouto intimidate; to frighten; to threaten
おどかす odokasuto startle; to frighten; to scare
しんがいさせる shingaisaseruto frighten; to terrify; to shock

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
きょうはく kyouhakuthreat; menace; coercion
きょうい kyouithreat; menace
おどかす odokasuto threaten; to menace; to intimidate
おどし odoshithreat
おどかし odokashithreat

See also: Chinese symbol for “frighten”.

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.

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