危
危 — Dangerous
dangerous, fear, uneasy
On’yomiキ (ki)
Kun’yomiあぶない (abunai)
Kun’yomiあやうい (ayaui)
Kun’yomiあやぶむ (ayabumu)
Stroke order (6 strokes)
Watch the strokes draw themselves in the correct order — numbers mark where each stroke starts. Diagram from KanjiVG (CC BY-SA).
Common words using 危
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 危機 | きき kiki | crisis; critical situation; emergency |
| 危険 | きけん kiken | danger; peril; hazard |
| 危うい | あやうい ayaui | dangerous; in danger; facing imminent danger |
| 危うく | あやうく ayauku | barely; narrowly; almost |
| 危ぶむ | あやぶむ ayabumu | to fear; to doubt; to have misgivings about |
| 危惧 | きぐ kigu | apprehension; misgivings; uneasiness |
Study notes
危 is a JLPT N3 kanji written with 6 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 6), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #606 of the 2,500 most frequent kanji in newspapers. On’yomi (音読み) are Chinese-derived readings mostly used in compound words; kun’yomi (訓読み) are native Japanese readings, with any highlighted part written in hiragana after the kanji (okurigana).
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