Japanese symbol for “obscurity”
不遇
ふぐう
Romaji: fuguu
misfortune; ill fate; bad luck; obscurity
In Japanese, obscurity is 不遇, read ふぐう (fuguu).
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, adj-no, n misfortune; ill fate; bad luck; obscurity
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “obscurity”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 不透明 | ふとうめい futoumei | opacity; obscurity |
| 隠微 | いんび inbi | obscurity; mystery; abstruseness |
| 下積み | したづみ shitazumi | lowly position; bottom (of the ladder); obscurity |
| 微賤 | びせん bisen | low rank; humble station; obscurity |
| 忘却の彼方 | ぼうきゃくのかなた boukyakunokanata | dustbin of history; ash heap of history; obscurity |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 不明 | ふめい fumei | unclear; obscure; indistinct |
| 不安 | ふあん fuan | anxiety; uneasiness; worry |
| 不足 | ふそく fusoku | insufficiency; deficiency; shortage |
| 不満 | ふまん fuman | dissatisfaction; discontent; displeasure |
| 不可能 | ふかのう fukanou | impossible |
| 不思議 | ふしぎ fushigi | wonderful; marvelous; strange |
| 待遇 | たいぐう taiguu | treatment; reception; service |
| 遭遇 | そうぐう souguu | encounter; running into; meeting with (e.g. an accident) |
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.