Japanese symbol for “heartless”
酷い
ひどい
Romaji: hidoi
cruel; heartless; hard; harsh
In Japanese, heartless is 酷い, read ひどい (hidoi).
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 cruel; heartless; hard; harsh; severe
- adj-i violent; intense; strong; heavy; extreme
- adj-i very bad; terrible; awful
- adj-i excessive; exorbitant; unreasonable; outrageous; unfair; unjust
Written forms: 酷い、非道い. Readings: ひどい、ヒドイ、ヒドい、ひでー.
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “heartless”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 冷淡 | れいたん reitan | cold; cold-hearted; heartless |
| 薄情 | はくじょう hakujou | unfeeling; heartless; cold-hearted |
| 非人情 | ひにんじょう hininjou | heartless; inhuman; unfeeling |
| 因業 | いんごう ingou | heartless; cruel; causes and actions |
| 冷厳 | れいげん reigen | grim; stern; stark |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 残酷 | ざんこく zankoku | cruel; brutal; ruthless |
| 過酷 | かこく kakoku | severe; harsh; hard |
| 冷酷 | れいこく reikoku | cruelty; coldheartedness; relentless |
| 酷暑 | こくしょ kokusho | intense heat; severe heat |
| 酷評 | こくひょう kokuhyou | severe criticism; sharp criticism; scathing criticism |
See also: Chinese symbol for “heartless”.
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.