Japanese symbol for “meager”
貧弱
ひんじゃく
Romaji: hinjaku
poor; meagre; meager; feeble
In Japanese, meager is 貧弱, read ひんじゃく (hinjaku).
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, n poor; meagre; meager; feeble; scanty; shabby
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “meager”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 乏しい | とぼしい toboshii | meagre; meager; scarce |
| 細やか | ささやか sasayaka | small; little; tiny |
| 僅か | わずか wazuka | a little; a few; small |
| 貧相 | ひんそう hinsou | scrawny (e.g. figure); thin-looking; sparse (e.g. meal) |
| 微か | かすか kasuka | poor; wretched; meagre |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 貧困 | ひんこん hinkon | poverty; penury; need |
| 貧しい | まずしい mazushii | poor; needy |
| 貧乏 | びんぼう binbou | poverty-stricken; destitute; poor |
| 貧血 | ひんけつ hinketsu | anemia; anaemia |
| 貧富 | ひんぷ hinpu | wealth and poverty; rich and poor |
| 弱い | よわい yowai | weak; frail; delicate |
| 弱点 | じゃくてん jakuten | weak point; weakness; shortcoming |
| 弱み | よわみ yowami | (a) weakness; shortcoming; failing |
See also: Chinese symbol for “meager”.
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.