King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “slight”

Romaji: bujoku
insult; affront; slight; contempt (e.g. of court)

In Japanese, slight is , read (bujoku).

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, vs, vt insult; affront; slight; contempt (e.g. of court)

Kanji and stroke order

scorn, despise, make light of
on: ブ
kun: あなど.る、あなず.る
8 strokes · JLPT 1
embarrass, humiliate, shame
on: ジョク
kun: はずかし.める
10 strokes · JLPT 1

Other Japanese words for “slight”

WordReadingMeaning
けいど keidoslight; light; mild (disability, symptoms, etc.)
けいび keibislight; little; insignificant
ちいさい chiisaislight; below average (in degree, amount, etc.); minor
こ kosmall; little; slight
かるい karuislight; small; gentle

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
ぶべつ bubetsuscorn; disdain; contempt
あなどる anadoruto disdain; to look down on; to make light of
あなどり anadoricontempt; scorn
けいぶ keibucontempt; scorn
ぶげん bugeninsult
くつじょく kutsujokudisgrace; humiliation
ちじょく chijokudisgrace; shame; insult
せつじょく setsujokuvindication of honour; vindication of honor; making up for loss

See also: Chinese symbol for “slight”.

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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