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Kanji for Evil

The kanji most commonly used for "Evil" are 悪、邪、凶.

悪

Kanji that mean Evil

  • 悪

    bad, ugly

    Also associated with to hate.

    Onyomi: aku, o Kunyomi: aa, ashi, izuku.nzo, izukuni, niku.mu, nikui, waru, waru.i 11 strokes Jōyō

  • 邪

    evil

    Also associated with to deceive, question particle.

    Onyomi: ja Kunyomi: yokoshima 8 strokes Jōyō

  • 凶

    misfortune

    Also associated with famine, to be attacked.

    Onyomi: kyoh 4 strokes Jōyō

  • 禍

    calamity, misfortune, disaster

    Onyomi: ka Kunyomi: wazawa.i 13 strokes Jōyō

  • 惡

    bad, ugly

    Also associated with to hate.

    Onyomi: aku, o Kunyomi: aa, ashi, izuku.nzo, izukuni, niku.mu, nikui, waru.i 12 strokes Jinmeiyō

悪 is the general character for bad and for evil: 悪人 (a wicked person), 悪魔 (a devil), 最悪 (the worst). It is also plain 悪い, ‘bad’, so it stretches from moral evil down to a bad mood or bad weather. 惡 is the same character in its pre-war form.

邪 is evil as crookedness — wrongness, something bent out of true. 邪悪 is the strong word for wicked, 邪魔 means an obstruction or nuisance, and 無邪気 (‘without crookedness’) means innocent. Of the set it has the sharpest moral edge and the least everyday drift.

凶 and 禍 are misfortune rather than wickedness. 凶 is bad luck: the worst result on a temple fortune slip, the opposite of 吉, and the 凶 of 凶器, a weapon used in a crime. 禍 is calamity that befalls you — wazawai, as in 災禍. Neither implies a person choosing to do wrong, which is what English ‘evil’ usually means.

Kanji associated with Evil

These carry evil as a connotation rather than as their core meaning.

  • 災

    disaster, calamity, fire

  • 黒

    black, evil

  • 弊

    abuse, harm

  • 黑

    black, dark

  • 罪

    crime, sin, guilt

  • 耶

    question particle

Words using Evil kanji

Everyday Japanese vocabulary built from the characters above.

  • 悪化 あっか Listen deterioration; getting worse; worsening
  • 風邪 かぜ Listen (common) cold; influenza; flu
  • 凶作 きょうさく Listen bad harvest; poor crop
  • コロナ禍 コロナか Listen COVID-19 pandemic; coronavirus crisis; COVID-19 crisis
  • 最悪 さいあく Listen worst; horrible; horrid
  • 邪魔 じゃま Listen hindrance; obstacle; nuisance
  • 悪質 あくしつ Listen malicious; vicious; malignant
  • 無邪気 むじゃき Listen innocent; simple-minded
  • 悪魔 あくま Listen devil; demon; fiend

Before you use Evil kanji

悪 is the character people mean, but it reads as 'bad' as much as 'evil' — 悪い is an ordinary everyday word. 邪 carries the more deliberate wickedness. Avoid 凶: it is the bad-luck mark on a fortune slip and reads as ill omen, not menace.

Other meanings to explore

See all kanji by meaning →

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