King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “suppress”

Romaji: nomu
to drink; to swallow; to take (medicine)

In Japanese, suppress is , read (nomu).

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. v5m, vt to drink; to swallow; to take (medicine)
  2. v5m, vt to smoke (tobacco)
  3. v5m, vt to swallow up; to engulf
  4. v5m, vt to suppress (one's anger, bitter feelings, etc.); to keep down; to hold back; to swallow (one's tears); to catch (one's breath)
  5. v5m, vt to accept (a demand, conditions, etc.); to agree to
  6. v5m, vt to make light of (someone); to think nothing of; to overwhelm; to overawe

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

drink, smoke, take
on: イン、オン
kun: の.む、-の.み
12 strokes · JLPT 4

Other Japanese words for “suppress”

WordReadingMeaning
ころす korosuto suppress; to block; to hamper
たつ tatsuto suppress; to eradicate; to exterminate
きんじる kinjiruto suppress (a feeling, laughter, etc.); to hold back (e.g. tears)
おさえる osaeruto hold back (e.g. an enemy); to check; to curb
おさえる osaeruto quell; to subdue; to suppress

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
のみもの nomimonodrink; beverage
いんしょく inshokufood and drink; eating and drinking
いんりょう inryoubeverage; drink
いんしゅ inshudrinking alcohol
のみこむ nomikomuto swallow; to gulp down

See also: Chinese symbol for “suppress”.

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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