Japanese symbol for “yawn”

欠伸

あくび

Romaji: akubi

yawn; yawning

In Japanese, yawn is 欠伸, read あくび (akubi).

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

n, vi, vs yawn; yawning
n kanji "yawning" radical (radical 76)

Written forms: 欠伸、欠. Readings: あくび、アクビ.

Kanji and stroke order

欠

lack, gap, fail

on: ケツ、ケン
kun: か.ける、か.く

4 strokes · JLPT 2

伸

expand, stretch, extend

on: シン
kun: の.びる、の.ばす、の.べる、の.す

7 strokes · JLPT 2

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
欠陥	けっかん kekkan	defect; fault; flaw
不可欠	ふかけつ fukaketsu	indispensable; essential
欠点	けってん ketten	fault; defect; flaw
欠席	けっせき kesseki	absence; non-attendance
欠如	けつじょ ketsujo	lack; absence; shortage
補欠	ほけつ hoketsu	filling a vacancy; supplementation
伸び	のび nobi	growth; development
伸びる	のびる nobiru	to stretch; to extend; to lengthen

See also: Chinese symbol for “yawn”.

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.