King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “wasteful”

Romaji: mottainai
wasteful; a waste

In Japanese, wasteful is , read (mottainai).

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. adj-i wasteful; a waste
  2. adj-i too good; more than one deserves; unworthy of
  3. adj-i impious; profane; sacrilegious

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

not, must not, do not
on: モチ、ブツ、ボツ
kun: なか.れ、なし
4 strokes
body, substance, object
on: タイ、テイ
kun: からだ、かたち
7 strokes · JLPT 3

Other Japanese words for “wasteful”

WordReadingMeaning
いぬ inucounterfeit; inferior; useless
ぜいたく zeitakulavish (use of something); abundant; copious
ふよう fuyouuseless; wasteful; of no use

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
もちろん mochironof course; certainly; naturally
もったい mottaisuperior airs; air of importance
なかれ nakaremust not; do not
もったいぶる mottaiburuto put on airs; to assume importance; to be self-important
もちのろん mochinoronof course; certainly; naturally
ぜんたい zentaiwhole; entirety
だんたい dantaigroup; party; team
たいけん taiken(practical) experience; personal experience; hands-on experience

See also: Chinese symbol for “wasteful”.

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.

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