Japanese symbol for “stasis”

うっ滞

うったい

Romaji: uttai

congestion; stagnation; stasis

In Japanese, stasis is うっ滞, read うったい (uttai).

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, vs congestion; stagnation; stasis
n, vs pent-up feelings

Written forms: うっ滞、鬱滞. Readings: うったい.

Kanji and stroke order

滞

stagnate, be delayed, overdue

on: タイ、テイ
kun: とどこお.る

13 strokes · JLPT 1

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
滞在	たいざい taizai	stay; sojourn
渋滞	じゅうたい juutai	(traffic) congestion; traffic jam; gridlock
停滞	ていたい teitai	stagnation; tie-up; standstill
滞納	たいのう tainou	falling behind (with a payment); being in arrears; non-payment
延滞	えんたい entai	arrears; (being) overdue; delay (e.g. in payment)
遅滞	ちたい chitai	delay; procrastination

See also: Chinese symbol for “stasis”.

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.