Japanese symbol for “sooty”
黒い
くろい
Romaji: kuroi
black
In Japanese, sooty is 黒い, read くろい (kuroi).
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-i black
- adj-i dark; blackish; sun-tanned (skin)
- adj-i suspicious; criminal; illicit
- adj-i darkened and dirty; sooty; covered in dirt
- adj-i evil; wicked; black-hearted
- adj-i inauspicious; ill-boding; unlucky
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “sooty”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 真っ黒 | まっくろ makkuro | sooty; black with dirt |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 黒人 | こくじん kokujin | black person |
| 黒字 | くろじ kuroji | (being in) the black; surplus |
| 黒板 | こくばん kokuban | blackboard |
| 暗黒 | あんこく ankoku | darkness |
| 白黒 | しろくろ shirokuro | black and white; monochrome |
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.