King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “sterile”

Romaji: fumou
barren; sterile; infertile

In Japanese, sterile is , read (fumou).

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

  1. adj-na, adj-no, n barren; sterile; infertile
  2. adj-na, adj-no, n unproductive (e.g. discussion); fruitless

Kanji and stroke order

negative, non-, bad
on: フ、ブ
4 strokes · JLPT 3
fur, hair, feather
on: モウ
kun: け
4 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “sterile”

WordReadingMeaning
むきん mukinsterilised; sterilized; sterile
むきんせい mukinseiaseptic; sterile; abacterial
やせた yasetabarren; infertile; sterile

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
ふめい fumeiunclear; obscure; indistinct
ふあん fuananxiety; uneasiness; worry
ふそく fusokuinsufficiency; deficiency; shortage
ふまん fumandissatisfaction; discontent; displeasure
ふかのう fukanouimpossible
ふしぎ fushigiwonderful; marvelous; strange
かみのけ kaminokehair (on the head); (a) hair
もうふ moufublanket

See also: Chinese symbol for “sterile”.

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.

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