Japanese symbol for “unskilled”
弱い
よわい
Romaji: yowai
weak; frail; delicate; tender
In Japanese, unskilled is 弱い, read よわい (yowai).
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 weak; frail; delicate; tender; unskilled; weak (wine)
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “unskilled”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 下手くそ | へたくそ hetakuso | unskilled; clumsy; lousy |
| 臭い | くさい kusai | clumsy; unskilled |
| 腕が悪い | うでがわるい udegawarui | unskilled; incompetent; poor |
| 腕が無い | うでがない udeganai | unskilled; not very good at |
| 下手っぴ | へたっぴ hetappi | unskilled; awkward; bad |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 弱点 | じゃくてん jakuten | weak point; weakness; shortcoming |
| 弱み | よわみ yowami | (a) weakness; shortcoming; failing |
| 弱気 | よわき yowaki | timid; weak-kneed; fainthearted |
| 貧弱 | ひんじゃく hinjaku | poor; meagre; meager |
| 脆弱 | ぜいじゃく zeijaku | weak; frail; fragile |
See also: Chinese symbol for “unskilled”.
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.