Japanese symbol for “superficial”
浅い
あさい
Romaji: asai
shallow; superficial
In Japanese, superficial is 浅い, read あさい (asai).
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 shallow; superficial
- adj-i slight (wound); light (sleep); pale (colour); inadequate (knowledge)
- adj-i short (time); early; young
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “superficial”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 軽薄 | けいはく keihaku | frivolous; flippant; superficial |
| 生半可 | なまはんか namahanka | superficial; half-hearted; shallow |
| 上滑り | うわすべり uwasuberi | superficial; shallow |
| 浅はか | あさはか asahaka | shallow; superficial; thoughtless |
| 安価 | あんか anka | shallow (e.g. sympathy); superficial; cheap (e.g. government) |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 浅瀬 | あさせ asase | shoal; shallows; sand bar |
| 浅見 | せんけん senken | shallow view; superficial idea |
| 浅黒い | あさぐろい asaguroi | dark (skin, complexion, etc.); swarthy; tanned |
| 浅はか | あさはか asahaka | shallow; superficial; thoughtless |
| 遠浅 | とおあさ tooasa | shoal; wide shallow beach |
See also: Chinese symbol for “superficial”.
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.