Japanese symbol for “tearful”

暗然

あんぜん

Romaji: anzen

dark; gloomy; black; unclear

In Japanese, tearful is 暗然, read あんぜん (anzen).

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-t, adv-to dark; gloomy; black; unclear
adj-t, adv-to doleful; discouraged; disappointed; tearful; dispirited

Written forms: 暗然、黯然、闇然. Readings: あんぜん.

Kanji and stroke order

暗

darkness, disappear, shade

on: アン
kun: くら.い、くら.む、くれ.る

13 strokes · JLPT 3

然

sort of thing, so, if so

on: ゼン、ネン
kun: しか、しか.り、しか.し、さ

12 strokes · JLPT 2

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
暗殺	あんさつ ansatsu	assassination
真っ暗	まっくら makkura	pitch-dark; pitch-black; completely dark
暗号	あんごう angou	code; password; cipher
暗い	くらい kurai	dark; gloomy; murky
暗黙	あんもく anmoku	tacit; unspoken; implicit
暗黒	あんこく ankoku	darkness
自然	しぜん shizen	nature
当然	とうぜん touzen	natural; right; proper

See also: Chinese symbol for “tearful”.

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.