Japanese symbol for “smirk”

似非笑い

えせわらい

Romaji: esewarai

smirk; affected smile

In Japanese, smirk is 似非笑い, read えせわらい (esewarai).

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 smirk; affected smile

Kanji and stroke order

似

becoming, resemble, counterfeit

on: ジ
kun: に.る、ひ.る

7 strokes · JLPT 2

非

un-, mistake, negative

on: ヒ
kun: あら.ず

8 strokes · JLPT 2

笑

laugh

on: ショウ
kun: わら.う、え.む

10 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “smirk”

Word	Reading	Meaning
ニヤつく	ニヤつく niyatsuku	to smirk; to grin broadly
ニヤッと笑う	ニヤッとわらう niyattowarau	to give a broad grin; to smirk

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
類似	るいじ ruiji	resemblance; similarity; likeness
似合う	にあう niau	to suit; to match; to become
真似	まね mane	imitating; copying; mimicry
似合い	にあい niai	well-matched (esp. of a couple); becoming; suitable
似る	にる niru	to resemble; to look like; to be like
疑似	ぎじ giji	pseudo; quasi; false
非常	ひじょう hijou	emergency
是非	ぜひ zehi	certainly; without fail
笑顔	えがお egao	smiling face; smile

See also: Chinese symbol for “smirk”.

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.