Japanese symbol for “sorry”
悪い
わるい
Romaji: warui
bad; poor; undesirable
In Japanese, sorry is 悪い, read わるい (warui).
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 bad; poor; undesirable
- adj-i poor (quality); inferior; insufficient
- adj-i evil; sinful
- adj-i ugly; not beautiful
- adj-i at fault; to blame; in the wrong
- adj-i bad (at doing something)
Written forms: 悪い、惡い. Readings: わるい.
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “sorry”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| すいません | すいません suimasen | sorry; excuse me; thank you |
| すまん | すまん suman | sorry; excuse me |
| めんご | めんご mengo | sorry |
| ソーリー | ソーリー soorii | sorry |
| 済まない | すまない sumanai | sorry; remorseful; apologetic |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 最悪 | さいあく saiaku | worst |
| 悪口 | わるぐち waruguchi | (verbal) abuse; speaking ill of people; bad-mouthing |
| 悪化 | あっか akka | deterioration; getting worse; worsening |
| 悪魔 | あくま akuma | devil; demon; fiend |
| 悪質 | あくしつ akushitsu | malicious; vicious; malignant |
See also: Chinese symbol for “sorry”.
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.