Sleeve tattoo

Professional wrestler CM Punk showing his sleeve tattoos, which cover his shoulder to his wrist

A sleeve tattoo or tattoo sleeve is a large tattoo or collection of smaller tattoos that covers most or all of a person's arm. There is a difference between an arm covered in tattoos and a sleeve tattoo: a sleeve tattoo has a unified theme, whereas an arm covered in tattoos may have many tattoos of different styles that does not have an overall unity. Tattoo sleeves will also often have overlapping or interlinking pieces.

Some sleeve tattoos run beyond the length of the shoulder and onto the chest. This is a specific Japanese styled sleeve called a Hikae. When both arms are completely tattooed as part of a full body tattoo, these are usually called sleeve tattoos. Sleeve tattoos which are often made with objects representing a feeling or culture such as skulls, weapons, flowers, or wolves.