Japanese symbol for “furtive”

秘密めいた

ひみつめいた

Romaji: himitsumeita

secretive; mysterious; furtive; stealthy

In Japanese, furtive is 秘密めいた, read ひみつめいた (himitsumeita).

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-f secretive; mysterious; furtive; stealthy; clandestine; sneaky

Kanji and stroke order

秘

secret, conceal

on: ヒ
kun: ひ.める、ひそ.か、かく.す

10 strokes · JLPT 1

密

secrecy, density (pop), minuteness

on: ミツ
kun: ひそ.か

11 strokes · JLPT 1

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
秘密	ひみつ himitsu	secret; secrecy; confidentiality
秘書	ひしょ hisho	(private) secretary
極秘	ごくひ gokuhi	absolute secrecy
神秘	しんぴ shinpi	mystery; mysteriousness; secret
便秘	べんぴ benpi	constipation
秘訣	ひけつ hiketsu	secret (method, trick, etc.); key (e.g. to success); mysteries (of an art, trade, etc.)
密度	みつど mitsudo	density
精密	せいみつ seimitsu	precise; exact; detailed

See also: Chinese symbol for “furtive”.

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.