Japanese symbol for “ignorant”
蒙昧
もうまい
Romaji: moumai
ignorant; unenlightened; uncivilized; uncivilised
In Japanese, ignorant is 蒙昧, read もうまい (moumai).
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-na, n ignorant; unenlightened; uncivilized; uncivilised
Written forms: 蒙昧、矇昧、曚昧. Readings: もうまい.
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “ignorant”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 暗い | くらい kurai | unfamiliar (with); ignorant (of) |
| 無学 | むがく mugaku | uneducated; ignorant; illiterate |
| 迂遠 | うえん uen | ignorant (of the world) |
| 疎い | うとい utoi | knowing little (of); ill-informed (about); ignorant (of) |
| 無知蒙昧 | むちもうまい muchimoumai | unenlightened; uneducated; ignorant |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 啓蒙 | けいもう keimou | enlightenment; illumination |
| 満蒙 | まんもう manmou | Manchuria and Inner Mongolia |
| 蒙古斑 | もうこはん moukohan | Mongolian spot; Mongolian blue spot; congenital dermal melanocytosis |
| 蒙古 | もうこ mouko | Mongolia (region); Greater Mongolia; Mongolian Plateau |
| 内蒙 | ないもう naimou | Inner Mongolia |
| 曖昧 | あいまい aimai | vague; ambiguous; unclear |
| 三昧 | さんまい sanmai | samadhi (state of intense concentration achieved through meditation) |
| 愚昧 | ぐまい gumai | stupid |
See also: Chinese symbol for “ignorant”.
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.