King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “insincere”

Romaji: kara
emptiness; being empty

In Japanese, insincere is , read (kara).

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-no, n emptiness; being empty
  2. pref not carrying anything; unburdened; empty-handed
  3. pref dishonoured (bill, promise, etc.); false; no-show (reservation); put-on (cheeriness, courage, etc.); empty (compliments); insincere

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

empty, sky, void
on: クウ
kun: そら、あ.く、あ.き、あ.ける
8 strokes · JLPT 4

Other Japanese words for “insincere”

WordReadingMeaning
けいはく keihakufrivolous; flippant; superficial
ふはく fuhakufrivolous; fickle; insincere
ふまじめ fumajimenot serious; frivolous; insincere
とおりいっぺん tooriippenperfunctory; cursory; passing
こころにもない kokoronimonai(something) one does not really mean; insincere

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
くうき kuukiair; atmosphere
くうこう kuukouairport
くうかん kuukanspace; room; airspace
こうくう koukuuaviation; flying
こうくうき koukuukiaircraft
くうちゅう kuuchuu(in) the air; midair; sky

See also: Chinese symbol for “insincere”.

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.