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Kanji Detail for 励 - "to encourage, to strive"

励

  • Meaning

    励 means "to encourage, to strive." Also associated with to exert.

    1. Encourage - To give support and confidence.

    2. Strive - To make great effort.

    3. Exert - To put forth energy.

  • Words using 励

    • 奨励 しょうれい Listen encouragement; promotion; inducement
    • 激励 げきれい Listen encouragement; spurring (on); cheering (on)
    • 励まし はげまし Listen encouragement; cheering on
    • 励み はげみ Listen encouragement; incentive; stimulus
    • 励ます はげます Listen to encourage; to cheer on; to cheer (someone) up
    • 励む はげむ Listen to work hard; to try hard; to strive

  • Four-character idioms with 励

    • 刻苦勉励 こっくべんれい Listen being arduous; working diligently enduring hardships
    • 刻苦精励 こっくせいれい Listen being arduous; working diligently enduring hardships; making a strenuous effort
    • 努力奮励 どりょくふんれい Listen making strenuous efforts; exerting oneself
    • 励声一番 れいせいいちばん Listen giving cries of encouragement at a critical moment
    • 励声叱咤 れいせいしった Listen cries of encouragement; shouting encouragement
    • 叱咤激励 しったげきれい Listen giving a loud pep talk; encouraging (someone) strongly in a loud voice

  • Tattoo check: 励

    • Verified meaning: to encourage, to strive
    • Official Jōyō kanji — a standard character every Japanese reader recognises
    • Used in real Japanese given names (read つとむ, はげむ, り, れい)
    • Also carries these associations: to exert

    A single kanji rarely maps one-to-one onto an English word. Read the meanings and associations above as a set — a character that fits the dictionary definition can still carry a connotation you did not intend.

  • Name readings of 励

    Given names 励(つとむ)Listen 励(はげむ)Listen 励(れい)Listen

    Surnames 励(り)Listen

  • Dictionary Citations

    The meaning above is based on the following sources:

    KANJIDIC2 A comprehensive Japanese-English kanji dictionary

    encourage; be diligent; inspire

    Unihan Unicode Han Database for CJK characters

    strive; encourage

    CC-CEDICT A Chinese-English dictionary

    surname Li

    Make Me a Hanzi Open-source Chinese character data

    to encourage; to strive

  • Onyomi

    tip

    rei(レイ) レイ

  • Kunyomi

    tip

    hage.masu(はげ-ます) はげ-ます

    hage.mu(はげ-む) はげ-む

  • Strokes

    tip

    7 strokes

  • Radical

    tip

    力 (chikara)

  • Related Keywords

    to encourage to strive to exert inspire motivate urge endeavor effort embolden energize rally spur stimulate

Sentences including 励

  • His success encouraged me very much.

  • She encouraged him to write a novel.

More kanji with the radical 力 (chikara)

See all kanji with this radical →

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