Japanese symbol for “sneak”

卑劣漢

ひれつかん

Romaji: hiretsukan

mean bastard; sneak; heel; despicable person

In Japanese, sneak is 卑劣漢, read ひれつかん (hiretsukan).

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 mean bastard; sneak; heel; despicable person

Kanji and stroke order

卑

lowly, base, vile

on: ヒ
kun: いや.しい、いや.しむ、いや.しめる

9 strokes · JLPT 1

劣

inferiority, be inferior to, be worse

on: レツ
kun: おと.る

6 strokes · JLPT 1

漢

Sino-, China

on: カン

13 strokes · JLPT 3

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
卑劣	ひれつ hiretsu	mean; contemptible; despicable
卑怯	ひきょう hikyou	cowardly; craven
卑屈	ひくつ hikutsu	servile; subservient; obsequious
男尊女卑	だんそんじょひ dansonjohi	male domination of women; male chauvinism; subjection of women
卑下	ひげ hige	self-abasement; self-depreciation; humility
卑しい	いやしい iyashii	lowborn; humble; lowly
劣化	れっか rekka	deterioration (in quality, performance, etc.); degradation; worsening
劣る	おとる otoru	to be inferior to; to be less good at; to fall behind
漢字	かんじ kanji	kanji; Chinese character

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.