King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “lovable”

Romaji: kawaii
cute; adorable; charming; lovely

In Japanese, lovable is , read (kawaii).

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 cute; adorable; charming; lovely; pretty
  2. adj-i dear; precious; darling; pet
  3. adj-i innocent; childlike; childish; lovable
  4. adj-i dainty; little; tiny
  5. adj-i precious to oneself; dear (to one)

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

can, passable, approval
on: カ、コク
kun: -べ.き、-べ.し
5 strokes · JLPT 2
love, affection, favourite
on: アイ
kun: いと.しい、かな.しい、め.でる、お.しむ
13 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “lovable”

WordReadingMeaning
いじらしい ijirashiilovable; sweet; charming
あいすべき aisubekilovable
ラブい rabuilovely; lovable
いじましい ijimashiilovable; sweet; charming

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
かのう kanoupossible; potential; practicable
きょか kyokapermission; approval; authorization
ふかのう fukanouimpossible
かわいそう kawaisoupoor; pitiable; pathetic
にんか ninkaapproval; license; licence
れんあい ren'ailove; romance; tender passion
あいじょう aijoulove; affection
あいする aisuruto love

See also: Chinese symbol for “lovable”.

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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