diff --git a/sumpy/kernel.py b/sumpy/kernel.py
index d307e6aa78aab81799019464d62549a954f0133f..ccc30bcc8ee229397dd921903605282c041b2a5f 100644
--- a/sumpy/kernel.py
+++ b/sumpy/kernel.py
@@ -1091,8 +1091,10 @@ class DirectionalDerivative(DerivativeBase):
             dir_vec_name=self.dir_vec_name)
 
     def __str__(self):
-        return r"{} . \/_{} {}".format(
-                self.dir_vec_name, self.directional_kind[0], self.inner_kernel)
+        return r"{}·∇_{} {}".format(
+                self.dir_vec_name,
+                "y" if self.directional_kind == "src" else "x",
+                self.inner_kernel)
 
     def __repr__(self):
         return "{}({!r}, {})".format(