Japanese symbol for “ruinous”

破滅的

はめつてき

Romaji: hametsuteki

destructive; catastrophic; disastrous; ruinous

In Japanese, ruinous is 破滅的, read はめつてき (hametsuteki).

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-na destructive; catastrophic; disastrous; ruinous; devastating

Kanji and stroke order

破

rend, rip, tear

on: ハ
kun: やぶ.る、やぶ.れる、わ.れる

10 strokes · JLPT 2

滅

destroy, ruin, overthrow

on: メツ
kun: ほろ.びる、ほろ.ぶ、ほろ.ぼす

13 strokes · JLPT 1

的

bull's eye, mark, target

on: テキ
kun: まと

8 strokes · JLPT 2

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
破壊	はかい hakai	destruction; disruption
突破	とっぱ toppa	breaking through; breakthrough; penetration
破産	はさん hasan	bankruptcy; insolvency
破る	やぶる yaburu	to tear; to rip; to break
破損	はそん hason	damage; breakage
破片	はへん hahen	fragment; broken piece; splinter
消滅	しょうめつ shoumetsu	extinction; extinguishment; disappearance
破滅	はめつ hametsu	ruin; destruction; fall
目的	もくてき mokuteki	purpose; goal; aim

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.