Japanese symbol for “sacrificing”

切り捨て

きりすて

Romaji: kirisute

cutting a person down (without a second thought); sacrificing; throwing to the wolves; treating as sword fodder

In Japanese, sacrificing is 切り捨て, read きりすて (kirisute).

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 cutting a person down (without a second thought); sacrificing; throwing to the wolves; treating as sword fodder
n omission; rounding down (e.g. fractions); truncation

Written forms: 切り捨て、切捨て、斬り捨て、斬捨て. Readings: きりすて.

Kanji and stroke order

切

cut, cutoff, be sharp

on: セツ、サイ
kun: き.る、-き.る、き.り、-き.り

4 strokes · JLPT 3

捨

discard, throw away, abandon

on: シャ
kun: す.てる

11 strokes · JLPT 2

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
大切	たいせつ taisetsu	important; significant; serious
一切	いっさい issai	all; everything; entirety
適切	てきせつ tekisetsu	appropriate; suitable; fitting
切り	きり kiri	end; finish; place to stop
切る	きる kiru	to cut; to cut through; to perform (surgery)
親切	しんせつ shinsetsu	kind; gentle; considerate
使い捨て	つかいすて tsukaisute	throwaway; disposable; single-use
捨てる	すてる suteru	to throw away; to cast away; to dump

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.