Japanese symbol for “upfront”

素直

すなお

Romaji: sunao

obedient; meek; docile; unaffected

In Japanese, upfront is 素直, read すなお (sunao).

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-na, n obedient; meek; docile; unaffected
adj-na, n honest; frank; upfront (about one's feelings)
adj-na, n straight (e.g. hair)
adj-na, n without peculiarity; without mannerisms; standard; neat (e.g. handwriting)

Kanji and stroke order

素

elementary, principle, naked

on: ソ、ス
kun: もと

10 strokes · JLPT 1

直

straightaway, honesty, frankness

on: チョク、ジキ、ジカ
kun: ただ.ちに、なお.す、-なお.す、なお.る

8 strokes · JLPT 2

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
要素	ようそ youso	element; component; factor
素材	そざい sozai	ingredient; (raw) material; resource
素敵	すてき suteki	lovely; wonderful; charming
素人	しろうと shirouto	amateur; layman; ordinary person
酸素	さんそ sanso	oxygen (O)
直接	ちょくせつ chokusetsu	direct; immediate; personal
正直	しょうじき shoujiki	honest; frank; candid
直後	ちょくご chokugo	immediately following

See also: Chinese symbol for “upfront”.

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.