Japanese symbol for “painful”
痛い
いたい
Romaji: itai
painful; sore
In Japanese, painful is 痛い, read いたい (itai).
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-i painful; sore
- adj-i cringy; embarrassing
Written forms: 痛い、甚い. Readings: いたい、イタイ、イタい.
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “painful”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 苦しい | くるしい kurushii | painful; difficult; tough |
| 辛い | つらい tsurai | painful; bitter; heart-breaking |
| 辛い | からい karai | painful; bitter; difficult |
| 切ない | せつない setsunai | painful; heartrending; trying |
| 心苦しい | こころぐるしい kokorogurushii | painful; being sorry; feeling sorry |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 痛み | いたみ itami | pain; ache; soreness |
| 頭痛 | ずつう zutsuu | headache |
| 苦痛 | くつう kutsuu | pain; agony; suffering |
| 痛烈 | つうれつ tsuuretsu | severe; bitter; scathing |
| 痛感 | つうかん tsuukan | feeling keenly; fully realizing |
See also: Chinese symbol for “painful”.
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.