Japanese symbol for “frightful”
物凄い
ものすごい
Romaji: monosugoi
terrific; staggering; tremendous; incredible
In Japanese, frightful is 物凄い, read ものすごい (monosugoi).
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
- adj-i terrific; staggering; tremendous; incredible; extreme
- adj-i frightful; ghastly; horrific; terrible; awful; gruesome
Written forms: 物凄い、もの凄い、物すごい. Readings: ものすごい、ものすっごい、ものすんごい.
Kanji and stroke order
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 動物 | どうぶつ doubutsu | animal |
| 人物 | じんぶつ jinbutsu | person; character; figure |
| 物語 | ものがたり monogatari | story; tale; narrative |
| 建物 | たてもの tatemono | building |
| 物質 | ぶっしつ busshitsu | material; substance |
| 本物 | ほんもの honmono | genuine article; real thing; real deal |
| 凄い | すごい sugoi | terrible; dreadful |
| 凄まじい | すさまじい susamajii | terrible; dreadful; awful |
See also: Chinese symbol for “frightful”.
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.