Japanese symbol for “purge”
粛清
しゅくせい
Romaji: shukusei
(political) purge
In Japanese, purge is 粛清, read しゅくせい (shukusei).
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, vs, vt (political) purge
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “purge”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 追放 | ついほう tsuihou | exile; banishment; eviction |
| 浄化 | じょうか jouka | cleanup (e.g. of politics); purge |
| 清める | きよめる kiyomeru | to purify; to cleanse; to exorcise |
| パージ | パージ paaji | purge (esp. of public officials) |
| 公職追放 | こうしょくついほう koushokutsuihou | expulsion of a public official and subsequent ban on participating in politics (by the SCAP during the allied occupation); purge |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 自粛 | じしゅく jishuku | self-restraint; voluntary restraint; self-imposed control |
| 厳粛 | げんしゅく genshuku | grave; solemn; serious |
| 静粛 | せいしゅく seishuku | silent |
| 粛正 | しゅくせい shukusei | strict crackdown on and elimination of misconduct; strict enforcement of discipline |
| 粛々 | しゅくしゅく shukushuku | silent; solemn; quiet |
| 清掃 | せいそう seisou | cleaning; clean-up; garbage collection |
| 清潔 | せいけつ seiketsu | clean; hygienic; sanitary |
| 清算 | せいさん seisan | (financial) settlement; squaring accounts; clearing debts |
See also: Chinese symbol for “purge”.
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.