King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “rarely”

Romaji: mettani
rarely; seldom

In Japanese, rarely is , read (mettani).

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. adv rarely; seldom

Kanji and stroke order

destroy, ruin, overthrow
on: メツ
kun: ほろ.びる、ほろ.ぶ、ほろ.ぼす
13 strokes · JLPT 1
many, frequent, much
on: タ
kun: おお.い、まさ.に、まさ.る
6 strokes · JLPT 4

Other Japanese words for “rarely”

WordReadingMeaning
たまさか tamasakararely; unusually; seldom

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
しょうめつ shoumetsuextinction; extinguishment; disappearance
はめつ hametsuruin; destruction; fall
ぜつめつ zetsumetsuextinction; extermination
めつぼう metsuboudownfall; ruin; collapse
ぼくめつ bokumetsueradication; extermination; destruction
ぜんめつ zenmetsutotal destruction; complete destruction; annihilation
たすう tasuularge number (of); many
たぶん tabunprobably; likely; perhaps

See also: Chinese symbol for “rarely”.

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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