King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “lest”

Romaji: ikenai
bad; wrong; naughty

In Japanese, lest is , read (ikenai).

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-i, exp bad; wrong; naughty
  2. adj-i, exp must not (do, be); should not; ought not to
  3. adj-i, exp useless; no good; bad
  4. adj-i, exp hopeless; beyond hope
  5. adj-i, exp unfortunate; a shame; a pity
  6. adj-i, exp unable to drink (alcohol)

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

going, journey, carry out
on: コウ、ギョウ、アン
kun: い.く、ゆ.く、-ゆ.き、-ゆき
6 strokes · JLPT 4

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
こうどう koudouaction; conduct; behaviour
おこなう okonauto perform; to do; to conduct oneself
ぎんこう ginkoubank; banking institution
いき ikithe way there; outbound leg; outbound trip
こうい kouiact; deed; conduct
りょこう ryokoutravel; trip; journey

See also: Chinese symbol for “lest”.

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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