Japanese symbol for “philistine”
俗物
ぞくぶつ
Romaji: zokubutsu
worldly-minded person; materialist; uncultured person; philistine
In Japanese, philistine is 俗物, read ぞくぶつ (zokubutsu).
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 worldly-minded person; materialist; uncultured person; philistine; vulgar person; snob
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “philistine”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ペリシテ人 | ペリシテじん perishitejin | (a) Philistine; Philistine people |
| 没風流漢 | ぼつふうりゅうかん botsufuuryuukan | prosaic person; person of an unromantic turn of mind; philistine |
| 教養のない | きょうようのない kyouyounonai | crude; philistine; uncultivated |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 風俗 | ふうぞく fuuzoku | manners; customs |
| 世俗 | せぞく sezoku | worldly things; common customs; ordinary life |
| 俗語 | ぞくご zokugo | colloquialism; colloquial language; slang |
| 民俗 | みんぞく minzoku | folk customs; folkways; ethnic customs |
| 低俗 | ていぞく teizoku | vulgar; lowbrow; coarse |
| 習俗 | しゅうぞく shuuzoku | manners and customs; folkways; usage |
| 動物 | どうぶつ doubutsu | animal |
| 人物 | じんぶつ jinbutsu | person; character; figure |
See also: Chinese symbol for “philistine”.
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.