Japanese symbol for “pretty”
美しい
うつくしい
Romaji: utsukushii
beautiful; pretty; lovely; sweet
In Japanese, pretty is 美しい, read うつくしい (utsukushii).
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 beautiful; pretty; lovely; sweet; pure (heart, friendship, etc.)
Written forms: 美しい、愛しい. Readings: うつくしい.
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “pretty”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 可愛い | かわいい kawaii | cute; adorable; charming |
| 綺麗 | きれい kirei | pretty; lovely; beautiful |
| 愛らしい | あいらしい airashii | pretty; charming; lovely |
| 結構 | けっこう kekkou | rather; quite; fairly |
| 相当 | そうとう soutou | considerably; rather; quite |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 美人 | びじん bijin | beautiful woman; (a) beauty; belle |
| 美術 | びじゅつ bijutsu | art; fine arts |
| 美術館 | びじゅつかん bijutsukan | art museum; art gallery |
| 美容 | びよう biyou | beauty; good figure; (beautiful) appearance |
| 美女 | びじょ bijo | beautiful woman |
See also: Chinese symbol for “pretty”.
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.