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Kanji Detail for 昧 - "dark, obscure"

昧

  • Meaning

    昧 means "dark, obscure." Also associated with ignorant.

    1. Dark - Dimly lit; lacking light.

    2. Ignorant - Not knowing things; foolish.

  • Words using 昧

    • 曖昧 あいまい Listen vague; ambiguous; unclear

  • Four-character idioms with 昧

    • 一行三昧 いちぎょうざんまい Listen complete concentration on one subject (usu. prayer); one-practice absorption
    • 念仏三昧 ねんぶつざんまい Listen being deep in prayer; praying devoutly to Amida Buddha
    • 戯作三昧 げさくざんまい Listen being absorbed in writing popular novels (cheap fiction); being absorbed in writing something to amuse oneself
    • 放蕩三昧 ほうとうざんまい Listen being absorbed in self-indulgent pleasures; giving oneself up to debauchery and dissipation
    • 曖昧模糊 あいまいもこ Listen obscure; vague; ambiguous
    • 無知愚昧 むちぐまい Listen unenlightened; in the darkest ignorance; not knowing from A to B

  • Tattoo check: 昧

    • Verified meaning: dark, obscure
    • Official Jōyō kanji — a standard character every Japanese reader recognises
    • Also carries these associations: ignorant

    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.

  • Dictionary Citations

    The meaning above is based on the following sources:

    KANJIDIC2 A comprehensive Japanese-English kanji dictionary

    dark; foolish

    Unihan Unicode Han Database for CJK characters

    obscure, dark; darken

    CC-CEDICT A Chinese-English dictionary

    to conceal; dark

    Make Me a Hanzi Open-source Chinese character data

    dark, hidden, obscure

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

    Dark. Such as 昧旦, 昧爽, meaning when dawn is approaching but not yet bright. | Not understanding reason is also called 昧. Such as 冒昧 (presumptuous), 昏昧 (confused). | 三昧 is Sanskrit. Meaning right concentration. Refers to eliminating all conditions and focusing on emptiness and stillness. A Buddhist cultivation method. Such as 游戲三昧, meaning entering and leaving concentration naturally. Now also means the profound essence of something, as in 三昧. Such as Huaisu, skilled in cursive script, who said he had attained the 三昧 of cursive calligraphy.

  • Onyomi

    tip

    bai(バイ) バイ

    mai(マイ) マイ

  • Kunyomi

    tip

    kura.i(くらい) くらい

    musaboru(むさぼ-る) むさぼ-る

  • Strokes

    tip

    9 strokes

  • Radical

    tip

    日 (hi・hihen・nichi・nichihen)

  • Related Keywords

    dark ignorant obscure dim vague unclear murky ambiguous hazy indistinct foolish uncertain shadowy nebulous mysterious

Sentences including 昧

  • Tom lives in the lap of luxury.

  • I ski a ton during the winter.

  • The meaning of this sentence is ambiguous.

  • This paragraph is vague.

  • Tom gave a vague answer.

  • This is a little vague.

  • The law is full of ambiguities.

  • The meaning of this sentence is obscure.

  • Tom lives in the lap of luxury.

  • Write a sentence that isn't vague in meaning!

Sentences from Japanese classical masterpieces

More kanji with the radical 日 (hi・hihen・nichi・nichihen)

See all kanji with this radical →

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