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Kanji Detail for 優 - "kind"

優

  • Meaning

    優 means "kind." Also associated with outstanding, skilled.

    1. Excellent - Superior; surpassing others.

    2. Gentle - Kind; refined; elegant.

  • Words using 優

    • 優勝 ゆうしょう Listen overall victory; championship; winning the title
    • 俳優 はいゆう Listen actor; actress; player
    • 優先 ゆうせん Listen preference; priority; precedence
    • 女優 じょゆう Listen actress; female actor
    • 優秀 ゆうしゅう Listen superior; excellent; brilliant
    • 優遇 ゆうぐう Listen favorable treatment; favourable treatment; hospitality
    • 優位 ゆうい Listen predominance; superiority; ascendancy
    • 優良 ゆうりょう Listen superior; excellent; fine

  • Four-character idioms with 優

    • 優柔不断 ゆうじゅうふだん Listen indecisive; irresolute; shilly-shally
    • 優勝劣敗 ゆうしょうれっぱい Listen survival of the fittest

  • Origin of 優

    The person radical 亻 beside 憂, sorrow, lending the reading yū: a person moved by grief — the mourner, then the actor who plays one, then anyone of gentle excellence. Tenderness and mastery in one character.

    How to remember it: A person 亻 who feels another's sorrow 憂 — gentleness so complete it became the word for excellent.

    Sources: en.wiktionary.org · mojinavi.com

  • Tattoo check: 優

    • Verified meaning: kind
    • Official Jōyō kanji — a standard character every Japanese reader recognises
    • Used in real Japanese given names (read あつし, こころ, さとし, じゅり)
    • Also carries these associations: outstanding, skilled

    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 優

    Given names 優(あつし)Listen 優(こころ)Listen 優(さとし)Listen 優(じゅり)Listen 優(すぐり)Listen 優(すぐる)Listen 優(すなお)Listen 優(ひろ)Listen 優(ひろし)Listen 優(まさる)Listen 優(やさ)Listen

    Surnames 優(まさ)Listen

  • Compare with other kanji that mean the same thing:

  • Dictionary Citations

    The meaning above is based on the following sources:

    KANJIDIC2 A comprehensive Japanese-English kanji dictionary

    tenderness; excel; surpass; actor; superiority; gentleness

    Unihan Unicode Han Database for CJK characters

    superior, excellent; actor

    CC-CEDICT A Chinese-English dictionary

    excellent; superior

    Make Me a Hanzi Open-source Chinese character data

    superior; elegant

    XSZD Xuéshēng Zìdiǎn (學生字典) - Student's Dictionary

    Abundant. Such as 優渥, meaning rich and generous. | Having extra capacity. Such as when a matter is not difficult to handle, it's called 優為. | Superior. As opposed to 劣 (inferior). Such as 優勝劣敗 (survival of the fittest). | Actor. (Records of the Grand Historian, Biographies of Jesters) "Chu had You Meng. Qin had You Zhan." Both were famous as actors.

  • Onyomi

    tip

    u(ウ) ウ

    yuu(ユウ) ユウ

  • Kunyomi

    tip

    masa.ru(まさ-る) まさ-る

    sugu.reru(すぐ-れる) すぐ-れる

    yasa.shii(やさ-しい) やさ-しい

  • Strokes

    tip

    17 strokes

  • Radical

    tip

    人 亻 (hito・nimben・hitogashira・hitoyane)

  • Related Keywords

    outstanding kind skilled abundant harmonious highest excellent gentle superiority benevolence calm caring compassion elegance excellence grace gracious mild refined soft tender

Sentences including 優

  • He became a famous actor.

  • She said in a gentle voice.

  • She is not so much a singer as an actress.

  • Miss young is very kind.

  • She is graceful.

  • Be kind to her , bill.

  • This book is written in easy english.

  • Tom got first prize , didn't he?

  • She excels her class in music.

  • He ought to have been an actor.

Sentences from Japanese classical masterpieces

More kanji with the radical 人 亻 (hito・nimben・hitogashira・hitoyane)

See all kanji with this radical →

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