Japanese symbol for “imbalance”
凹凸
おうとつ
Romaji: outotsu
unevenness; bumpiness; roughness; ruggedness
In Japanese, imbalance is 凹凸, read おうとつ (outotsu).
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
- n unevenness; bumpiness; roughness; ruggedness
- n imbalance; inequality; unevenness; disparity
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “imbalance”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 不均衡 | ふきんこう fukinkou | imbalance; lack of balance; lopsidedness |
| アンバランス | アンバランス anbaransu | unbalance; imbalance |
| 跛行 | はこう hakou | imbalance; proceeding irregularly; unsteady progress |
| 不釣合い | ふつりあい futsuriai | imbalance; disproportion; disparity |
| 凸凹 | でこぼこ dekoboko | inequality; imbalance; unevenness |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 凸凹 | でこぼこ dekoboko | unevenness; roughness; ruggedness |
| 凹み | くぼみ kubomi | hollow; cavity; dent |
| 凹む | へこむ hekomu | to be dented; to be indented; to yield |
| 凹面 | おうめん oumen | concavity |
| 凹版 | おうはん ouhan | intaglio plate |
| 凸版印刷 | とっぱんいんさつ toppan'insatsu | letterpress; relief printing |
| 凸版 | とっぱん toppan | letterpress; relief printing |
| 凸レンズ | とつレンズ totsurenzu | convex lens |
See also: Chinese symbol for “imbalance”.
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.