Japanese symbol for “miserable”
惨め
みじめ
Romaji: mijime
miserable; wretched; unhappy; sad
In Japanese, miserable is 惨め, read みじめ (mijime).
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 miserable; wretched; unhappy; sad; pitiable
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “miserable”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 悲惨 | ひさん hisan | disastrous; tragic; miserable |
| 情けない | なさけない nasakenai | miserable; pitiable; shameful |
| 悲しい | かなしい kanashii | sad; miserable; unhappy |
| 気の毒 | きのどく kinodoku | pitiful; unfortunate; poor |
| 陰気 | いんき inki | gloomy; dismal; miserable |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 悲惨 | ひさん hisan | disastrous; tragic; miserable |
| 惨敗 | ざんぱい zanpai | ignominious defeat; crushing failure; utterly beaten |
| 惨事 | さんじ sanji | disaster; tragedy; tragic incident |
| 惨状 | さんじょう sanjou | disastrous scene; terrible spectacle |
| 惨劇 | さんげき sangeki | tragedy; tragic event |
See also: Chinese symbol for “miserable”.
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.