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Kanji for Dusk

The kanji most commonly used for "Dusk" are 暮、宵、昏.

暮

Kanji that mean Dusk

  • 暮

    dusk, to live, evening

    Onyomi: bo Kunyomi: ku.rasu, ku.reru 14 strokes Jōyō

  • 宵

    evening, night

    Also associated with dusk.

    Onyomi: shoh Kunyomi: yoi 10 strokes Jōyō

  • 昏

    dusk, dark, ignorant

    Onyomi: kon Kunyomi: kura.i, kure 8 strokes Jinmeiyō

  • 莫

    vast

    Also associated with dusk, none.

    Onyomi: baku, bo, maku, mo, nai Kunyomi: kure, naka.re, nashi 10 strokes Jinmeiyō

  • 晚

    evening, late

    Also associated with dusk.

    Onyomi: ban Kunyomi: kure, osoi 11 strokes Jinmeiyō

暮 is the character behind the everyday words for dusk: 夕暮れ (yūgure) and 日暮れ (higure), both built on the verb 暮れる, to grow dark. That verb has a second life — 暮らす means to live, to pass one’s days, and 暮らし is one’s livelihood — so 暮 is as much about time running out as about light fading. 歳暮 is the close of the year.

昏 is darkness itself rather than an hour of the day. It is the second character of 黄昏 (tasogare), the poetic word for twilight, and it also carries a sense of dimmed consciousness, as in 昏睡 (konsui, coma). It is a Jinmeiyō character and is almost never written alone in modern Japanese.

For dusk as a moment in the day, 暮 is the character a reader expects. 昏 reads darker and more literary, and needs a partner character to be understood.

Kanji associated with Dusk

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

  • 夕

    evening, night

  • 晩

    evening, night, late

  • 夜

    night, evening, midnight

  • 西

    west, western, spain

  • 霞

    haze, to become hazy

  • 汐

    evening tide

  • 酉

    rooster, west, 6 pm

Words using Dusk kanji

Everyday Japanese vocabulary built from the characters above.

  • 暮らし くらし Listen (way of) life; lifestyle; living
  • 今宵 こよい Listen this evening; tonight
  • 黄昏 たそがれ Listen dusk; twilight; twilight years
  • 莫大 ばくだい Listen vast; huge; immense
  • 歳暮 せいぼ Listen year-end gift; end of the year; year end
  • 明け暮れ あけくれ Listen morning and evening; daily routine; to spend all one's time doing
  • 日暮れ ひぐれ Listen twilight; sunset; dusk
  • 暮らす くらす Listen to live (on, by, etc.); to lead a life; to get along
  • 野暮 やぼ Listen boorish; unsophisticated; unrefined

Before you use Dusk kanji

暮 is the safer of the two and reads as evening or the closing of a day, though it equally suggests 暮らす, to live day to day. 昏 is uncommon on its own, and its other sense is clouded or dimmed consciousness, which is not the mood most people intend.

Other meanings to explore

See all kanji by meaning →

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