King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “threaten”

Romaji: odokasu
to threaten; to menace; to intimidate

In Japanese, threaten is , read (odokasu).

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. v5s, vt to threaten; to menace; to intimidate
  2. v5s, vt to startle; to frighten; to scare

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

threaten, coerce
on: キョウ
kun: おびや.かす、おど.す、おど.かす
10 strokes · JLPT 1

Other Japanese words for “threaten”

WordReadingMeaning
おどす odosuto threaten; to menace; to frighten (into doing)
あっとう attouto intimidate; to frighten; to threaten
すごむ sugomuto threaten; to intimidate; to be threatening
おどしつける odoshitsukeruto threaten; to terrify; to frighten
かくす kakusuto threaten; to menace

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
きょうはく kyouhakuthreat; menace; coercion
きょうい kyouithreat; menace
おどし odoshithreat
おどす odosuto threaten; to menace; to frighten (into doing)
おどかし odokashithreat

See also: Chinese symbol for “threaten”.

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.