King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “frustrate”

Romaji: kudaku
to break (into pieces); to smash; to crush; to shatter

In Japanese, frustrate is , read (kudaku).

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. v5k, vt to break (into pieces); to smash; to crush; to shatter; to grind (into powder); to pound
  2. v5k, vt to shatter (someone's hopes, confidence, etc.); to crush; to frustrate
  3. v5k, vt to simplify; to make easy to understand

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

smash, break, crush
on: サイ
kun: くだ.く、くだ.ける
9 strokes · JLPT 1

Other Japanese words for “frustrate”

WordReadingMeaning
ひとあわふかせる hitoawafukaseruto give someone a surprise; to catch off guard and fluster; to frustrate (e.g. someone's plans)

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
ふんさい funsaipulverization; pulverisation
ぎょくさい gyokusaihonorable death; death without surrender; honorable defeat
かさいりゅう kasairyuupyroclastic flow
さいせき saisekicrushed stone; macadam
はさい hasaicrushing (into pieces); smashing; cracking

See also: Chinese symbol for “frustrate”.

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.