King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “shrinking”

Romaji: ishuku
withering; shrivelling; shrinking

In Japanese, shrinking is , read (ishuku).

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. n, vi, vs withering; shrivelling; shrinking
  2. n, vi, vs contraction; atrophy (med)

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

wither, droop, lame
on: イ
kun: な、しお.れる、しな.びる、しぼ.む
11 strokes
shrink, contract, shrivel
on: シュク
kun: ちぢ.む、ちぢ.まる、ちぢ.める、ちぢ.れる
17 strokes · JLPT 1

Other Japanese words for “shrinking”

WordReadingMeaning
しゅうしゅく shuushukucontraction; shrinking; shrinkage
いしゅく ishukuwincing; cowering; shrinking
みぎかたさがり migikatasagaridecreasing (graph falling to the right); shrinking; declining
わいしょうか waishoukareduction (in size); shrinking; minimization
みぎさがり migisagaridecreasing (graph falling to the right); sloping to the right; shrinking

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
なえる naeruto lose strength; to become weak; to disappear (of energy, drive, etc.)
なえ naeweakening; loss of strength
しぼむ shibomuto wither (of flowers, dreams, etc.); to wilt; to droop
しおれる shioreruto wither; to wilt; to droop
いちょう ichouwilting; withering
しゅくしょう shukushoureduction; curtailment; cut
たんしゅく tanshukushortening; contraction; reduction
あっしゅく asshukucompression

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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