Chinese Tattoo 德: Meaning, Strokes & Design Guide
The character 德 means "ethics, morality, virtue" and is pronounced dé. Below: its structure, the words it appears in, and how it works as a tattoo.
Quick facts
| Character | 德 |
| Pinyin | dé |
| Meaning | ethics, morality, virtue |
| Strokes | 15 |
| Radical | ⼻ (No. 60) |
| HSK level | new-7 |
Words that contain 德
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 道德 | dào dé | virtue | newest-6 |
| 美德 | Měi Dé | USA and Germany | newest-7 |
| 品德 | pǐn dé | moral character | newest-7 |
| 仁德 | ren2 de2 | benevolent integrity | — |
| 公德 | gong1 de2 | public ethics | — |
| 功德 | gong1 de2 | achievements and virtue | — |
Words and levels: HSK vocabulary list · meanings: CC-CEDICT.
Placing 德
德 runs to 15 strokes, which is dense for a single character. At small sizes the inner strokes close up and the character stops being readable — this one wants a larger placement (upper back, thigh, forearm) rather than a wrist or ankle. Tell your artist the intended size before the stencil is cut, because a design that reads at 8 cm can collapse at 4 cm. Bring the stencil together with the pinyin and the meaning, and ask the artist to follow the stencil rather than redrawing the character freehand — freehand redrawing is the most common way a correct character loses a stroke and becomes a different one.
Design notes for 德
德 appears both on its own and inside compounds, so the sense depends on context; here it reads “ethics, morality, virtue”. Regular script (楷书) keeps every stroke countable, which matters when a Chinese reader checks it. Avoid mirroring or rotating the character, and avoid very fine or cursive styles at small sizes, where strokes merge into a shape that reads as a different character.
Frequently asked questions
What does 德 mean?
德 (dé) means “ethics, morality, virtue”.
How is 德 pronounced?
德 is pronounced dé in Mandarin.
How many strokes does 德 have?
德 has 15 strokes, under the ⼻ radical (No. 60).
How large should a 德 tattoo be?
With 15 strokes, 德 is moderately dense — it stays legible from roughly 4–5 cm upward. Shrinking it below that risks the strokes merging.
Which style works for 德?
Bold regular script (楷书) keeps the strokes clear. Semi-cursive (行书) adds flow but softens edges. Seal script looks classical but is harder for most readers to verify — use it only if a native reader has confirmed the rendering.
Is 德 common in modern Chinese?
Yes — 德 appears as a standalone HSK vocabulary item (new-7), and in everyday words such as 道德、美德、品德.
Should I use simplified or traditional 德?
德 is written the same in simplified and traditional Chinese, so there is no form to choose.
Want 德 as a ready-to-use stencil with a native-checked meaning card, sized for your tattoo artist?
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Character data: Unihan (Unicode) · words: HSK vocabulary & CC-CEDICT · How we verify this