Japanese symbol for “negative”
負
ふ
Romaji: fu
negative; minus
In Japanese, negative is 負, read ふ (fu).
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-no, n negative; minus
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “negative”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 陰性 | いんせい insei | negative (result) |
| 消極 | しょうきょく shoukyoku | passive; negative; conservative |
| ネガティブ | ネガティブ negatibu | negative (e.g. thinking) |
| 陰 | いん in | (the) negative (e.g. pole) |
| ネガ | ネガ nega | negative |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 負け | まけ make | defeat; loss; losing (a game) |
| 負担 | ふたん futan | burden; load; responsibility |
| 勝負 | しょうぶ shoubu | victory or defeat |
| 負傷 | ふしょう fushou | injury; wound |
| 負債 | ふさい fusai | debt; liabilities |
| 負う | おう ou | to carry on one's back; to bear; to shoulder |
See also: Chinese symbol for “negative”.
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.