Japanese symbol for “nasty”
意地悪
いじわる
Romaji: ijiwaru
malicious; ill-tempered; unkind; mean
In Japanese, nasty is 意地悪, read いじわる (ijiwaru).
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 malicious; ill-tempered; unkind; mean; nasty
Written forms: 意地悪. Readings: いじわる、イジワル.
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “nasty”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 嫌 | いや iya | unpleasant; disagreeable; nasty |
| 最低 | さいてい saitei | awful; horrible; nasty |
| いけ好かない | いけすかない ikesukanai | nasty; disgusting; detestable |
| えげつない | えげつない egetsunai | dirty; vulgar; nasty |
| 汚らわしい | けがらわしい kegarawashii | filthy; unfair; dirty |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 意味 | いみ imi | meaning; significance; sense |
| 注意 | ちゅうい chuui | attention; notice; heed |
| 意識 | いしき ishiki | consciousness |
| 意見 | いけん iken | opinion; view; comment |
| 用意 | ようい youi | preparation; arrangements; provision |
| 得意 | とくい tokui | satisfaction; pride; triumph |
| 地域 | ちいき chiiki | area; region; district |
| 地球 | ちきゅう chikyuu | Earth; the globe |
| 最悪 | さいあく saiaku | worst |
See also: Chinese symbol for “nasty”.
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.