King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “malignant”

Romaji: akushitsu
malicious; vicious; malignant; underhanded

In Japanese, malignant is , read (akushitsu).

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-na, n malicious; vicious; malignant; underhanded
  2. adj-na, n shoddy; inferior; poor-quality; second-rate

Kanji and stroke order

bad, vice, rascal
on: アク、オ
kun: わる.い、わる-、あ.し、にく.い
11 strokes · JLPT 3
substance, quality, matter
on: シツ、シチ、チ
kun: たち、ただ.す、もと、わりふ
15 strokes · JLPT 3

Other Japanese words for “malignant”

WordReadingMeaning
あくせい akuseimalignant (cancer); virulent; pernicious (anemia, anaemia)
たちがわるい tachigawaruiof bad character; ill-natured; nasty
たちのわるい tachinowaruiof bad character; ill-natured; nasty

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
さいあく saiakuworst
わるぐち waruguchi(verbal) abuse; speaking ill of people; bad-mouthing
あっか akkadeterioration; getting worse; worsening
あくま akumadevil; demon; fiend
わるい waruibad; poor; undesirable
しつもん shitsumonquestion; inquiry; enquiry
ぶっしつ busshitsumaterial; substance
たいしつ taishitsuconstitution (physical); physical make-up; predisposition (to disease)

See also: Chinese symbol for “malignant”.

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.