Japanese symbol for “scratching”
カリカリ
カリカリ
Romaji: karikari
crisp (e.g. potato chip, fried fish, etc.); crunchy
In Japanese, scratching is カリカリ (karikari).
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, adv, adv-to crisp (e.g. potato chip, fried fish, etc.); crunchy
- adv, adv-to, vs grumpily; touchily; edgily; irritably
- adv, adv-to, vs scratching
- n crunchies; dry (pet) food; kibble
Written forms: —. Readings: カリカリ、かりかり.
Other Japanese words for “scratching”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 掻い掻い | かいかい kaikai | scratching |
| がりがり | がりがり garigari | crunching; chewing or crushing something hard; scraping |
| ボリボリ | ボリボリ boribori | scratching (an itch) |
| ポリポリ | ポリポリ poripori | (lightly) scratching (an itch) |
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.