Japanese symbol for “loathe”
嫌う
きらう
Romaji: kirau
to hate; to dislike; to loathe; to abhor
In Japanese, loathe is 嫌う, read きらう (kirau).
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
- v5u, vt to hate; to dislike; to loathe; to abhor
- v5u, vt to avoid
- v5u, vt to disregard; to act without regard (for)
- v5u, vt to be bad for (e.g. dust in machinery)
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “loathe”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 忌み嫌う | いみきらう imikirau | to detest; to abhor; to loathe |
| 戒める | いましめる imashimeru | to detest; to loathe |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 嫌い | きらい kirai | disliking; hating; detesting |
| 機嫌 | きげん kigen | humour; humor; temper |
| 大嫌い | だいきらい daikirai | hating; strongly disliking |
| 嫌悪 | けんお ken'o | disgust; hate; repugnance |
| 好き嫌い | すききらい sukikirai | likes and dislikes; tastes; preferences |
See also: Chinese symbol for “loathe”.
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.