Japanese symbol for “shabby”
粗末
そまつ
Romaji: somatsu
crude; rough; plain; humble
In Japanese, shabby is 粗末, read そまつ (somatsu).
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, n crude; rough; plain; humble; shabby; poor-quality
- adj-na, n careless; disrespectful; without proper care
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “shabby”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 貧弱 | ひんじゃく hinjaku | poor; meagre; meager |
| しょぼい | しょぼい shoboi | shabby; dull; cheap |
| 卑しい | いやしい iyashii | shabby; poor-looking |
| 見すぼらしい | みすぼらしい misuborashii | shabby; unsightly; unkempt |
| ヨレヨレ | ヨレヨレ yoreyore | worn-out; shabby; seedy |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 粗悪 | そあく soaku | coarse; crude; inferior |
| 粗大 | そだい sodai | coarse; rough; bulky |
| 粗い | あらい arai | coarse; rough |
| 粗暴 | そぼう sobou | rough (behaviour, temperament, etc.); wild; rude |
| 粗野 | そや soya | rustic; rude; vulgar |
| 週末 | しゅうまつ shuumatsu | weekend |
| 年末 | ねんまつ nenmatsu | end-of-year; year-end |
| 末期 | まっき makki | last years; closing years; last days |
See also: Chinese symbol for “shabby”.
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.