Japanese symbol for “numbness”
痺れ
しびれ
Romaji: shibire
numbness; going to sleep (of a limb); pins and needles
In Japanese, numbness is 痺れ, read しびれ (shibire).
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
- n numbness; going to sleep (of a limb); pins and needles
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “numbness”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 麻痺 | まひ mahi | numbness; loss of sensation |
| 痺れ感 | しびれかん shibirekan | numbness |
| 感覚鈍麻 | かんかくどんま kankakudonma | hypoesthesia; hypesthesia; numbness |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 麻痺 | まひ mahi | paralysis; palsy; stupor |
| 痺れる | しびれる shibireru | to become numb; to go to sleep (e.g. a limb) |
| 小児麻痺 | しょうにまひ shounimahi | poliomyelitis; polio; infantile paralysis |
| 痺れ感 | しびれかん shibirekan | numbness |
| 痺れエイ | しびれエイ shibireei | electric ray (any ray of order Torpediniformes) |
See also: Chinese symbol for “numbness”.
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.