Japanese symbol for “loneliness”
孤独
こどく
Romaji: kodoku
solitude; loneliness; isolation
In Japanese, loneliness is 孤独, read こどく (kodoku).
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
- adj-na, adj-no, n solitude; loneliness; isolation
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “loneliness”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 一人ぼっち | ひとりぼっち hitoribotchi | aloneness; loneliness; solitude |
| 寂寥 | せきりょう sekiryou | loneliness; desolateness |
| 孤 | こ ko | being alone; solitude; loneliness |
| ロンリネス | ロンリネス ronrinesu | loneliness |
| 寂しさ | さびしさ sabishisa | (feeling of) loneliness; desolation |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 孤立 | こりつ koritsu | isolation; being alone; being friendless |
| 孤児 | こじ koji | orphan |
| 孤島 | ことう kotou | solitary island; isolated island |
| 孤高 | ここう kokou | aloof; proudly independent; standing apart |
| 孤軍 | こぐん kogun | lone (isolated) force; forlorn force |
| 独特 | どくとく dokutoku | peculiarity; uniqueness; characteristic |
| 独自 | どくじ dokuji | original; unique; distinctive |
| 独立 | どくりつ dokuritsu | independence; self-reliance; supporting oneself |
See also: Chinese symbol for “loneliness”.
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.