King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “pygmy”

Romaji: waishou
diminutive; dwarfish; pygmy; stunted

In Japanese, pygmy is , read (waishou).

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, n diminutive; dwarfish; pygmy; stunted; undersized
  2. adj-na, n narrow (e.g. thinking); small

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

low, short
on: ワイ、アイ
kun: ひく.い
13 strokes
little, small
on: ショウ
kun: ちい.さい、こ-、お-、さ-
3 strokes · JLPT 4

Other Japanese words for “pygmy”

WordReadingMeaning
ピグミー pigumiipygmy; pigmy

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
わいせい waiseidwarf star
わいせい waiseidwarfism
わいく waikusmall stature
チャボ chabo(Japanese) bantam
わいじん waijindwarf
しょうせつ shousetsunovel; story; (work of) fiction
しょうがっこう shougakkouprimary school; elementary school; grade school
しょうがくせい shougakuseielementary school student; primary school student; grade school student

See also: Chinese symbol for “pygmy”.

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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