King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “preferable”

Romaji: mashi
better; preferable; less objectionable; least-worst

In Japanese, preferable is , read (mashi).

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-na better; preferable; less objectionable; least-worst
  2. n-suf more; increase; extra
  3. n increase; growth

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

increase, add, augment
on: ゾウ
kun: ま.す、ま.し、ふ.える、ふ.やす
14 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “preferable”

WordReadingMeaning
のぞましい nozomashiidesirable; hoped for; preferable
ベター betaabetter; preferable
ありうべき ariubekipreferable; desirable

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
ぞうか zoukaincrease; rise; growth
ふえる fueruto increase; to multiply
ぞうぜい zouzeitax increase
ぞうだい zoudaienlargement; increase
きゅうぞう kyuuzourapid increase; sharp rise; proliferation

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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