Japanese symbol for “virtuous”
善良
ぜんりょう
Romaji: zenryou
good (person, nature, etc.); good-natured; virtuous; honest
In Japanese, virtuous is 善良, read ぜんりょう (zenryou).
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 good (person, nature, etc.); good-natured; virtuous; honest
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “virtuous”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 清潔 | せいけつ seiketsu | pure; virtuous; immaculate |
| 有徳 | うとく utoku | virtuous; rich |
| 高潔 | こうけつ kouketsu | noble; lofty; high-minded |
| 徳の高い | とくのたかい tokunotakai | virtuous; respectable |
| 芝蘭 | しらん shiran | talented; virtuous |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 改善 | かいぜん kaizen | betterment; improvement |
| 善意 | ぜんい zen'i | virtuous mind |
| 親善 | しんぜん shinzen | friendship; goodwill; friendly relations |
| 慈善 | じぜん jizen | charity; benevolence; philanthropy |
| 最善 | さいぜん saizen | the very best; utmost |
| 良い | よい yoi | good; excellent; fine |
| 不良 | ふりょう furyou | bad; poor; inferior |
| 仲良く | なかよく nakayoku | on good terms (with); on friendly terms (with); (getting along) well |
See also: Chinese symbol for “virtuous”.
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.