King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “patchy”

Romaji: usui
thin (of an object)

In Japanese, patchy is , read (usui).

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

  1. adj-i thin (of an object)
  2. adj-i pale; light; faint
  3. adj-i watery; thin; diluted
  4. adj-i weak (taste, etc.); little (affection, etc.); not much (of a presence)
  5. adj-i slim (probability, etc.); small
  6. adj-i sparse; patchy; scattered

Kanji and stroke order

dilute, thin, weak (tea)
on: ハク
kun: うす.い、うす-、-うす、うす.める
16 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “patchy”

WordReadingMeaning
スカスカ sukasukafull of openings; half empty; spongy
はんじょう hanjoumottled; patchy; macular
ざっぱく zappakuconfused; inconsistent; incoherent

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
うすぐらい usuguraidim; gloomy
きはく kihakuthin (air); weak (liquid); dilute
けいはく keihakufrivolous; flippant; superficial
うすぎ usugibeing lightly dressed
しなうす shinausushortage of stock; scarcity of goods; being in short supply

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.

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