King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “inflexible”

Romaji: ittetsu
obstinate; stubborn; inflexible

In Japanese, inflexible is , read (ittetsu).

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. adj-na, adj-no, n obstinate; stubborn; inflexible

Kanji and stroke order

one, one radical (no.1)
on: イチ、イツ
kun: ひと-、ひと.つ
1 strokes · JLPT 4
penetrate, clear, pierce
on: テツ
15 strokes · JLPT 1

Other Japanese words for “inflexible”

WordReadingMeaning
こわい kowaiinflexible; obstinate; stubborn
しゃくしじょうぎ shakushijougistrict; hidebound; inflexible
ふとう futouunbending; inflexible; tenacity
ゴリゴリ gorigoriinflexible; uncompromising; dyed-in-the-wool
ガチガチ gachigachirigid (personality, thinking, etc.); inflexible; overly serious

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
いっしょ issho(doing) together
いちばん ichibannumber one; first; first place
ひとつ hitotsuone
いっぱん ippangeneral; universal
いちぶ ichibuone part; one portion; one section
いっぽう ippouone (esp. of two); the other; one way
てってい tetteithoroughness; completeness; consistency
てつや tetsuyastaying up all night

See also: Chinese symbol for “inflexible”.

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.

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