Kanji for Hate

The kanji most commonly used for "Hate" are 憎、嫌.

憎

Kanji that mean Hate

憎

to hate

Also associated with to loathe, to resent.

Onyomi: zoh Kunyomi: niku.mu, nikui, nikurashii, nikushimi 14 strokes Jōyō
嫌

to dislike, to hate

Also associated with to suspect.

Onyomi: gen, ken Kunyomi: iya, kira.i, kira.u 13 strokes Jōyō

The two are not the same strength. 嫌 is dislike. 嫌い (kirai) is the ordinary word for not liking something — a food, a color, a chore — and 嫌 read iya is what a Japanese speaker says to mean ‘no, I don’t want to’. It is everyday, mild, and used constantly.

憎 is hatred proper. 憎む (nikumu) is to hate a person or an act, and 憎悪 (zōo) is hatred as a state. It implies a wound behind it: you hate something that has done something. The compound 愛憎, love and hatred, pairs it directly against 愛.

Between them sits 嫌悪 (ken’o), which uses the milder character but means revulsion or disgust, and is far stronger than 嫌い. Neither character is a comfortable one to display, and unlike some darker kanji, neither has a softer secondary sense to fall back on.

Before you use Hate kanji

Both read exactly as they mean, with no ambiguity to hide behind: 憎 is hatred, 嫌 is dislike or refusal. 嫌 is the milder and by far the more common in daily speech. Neither is used in given names, and a Japanese reader will find either one startling on a body.

Other meanings to explore

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