堅
堅 — Strict
strict, hard, solid, tough, tight, reliable
On’yomiケン (ken)
Kun’yomiかたい (katai)
Kun’yomi-がたい (gatai)
Stroke order (12 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 堅
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 中堅 | ちゅうけん chuuken | nucleus; backbone; mainstay |
| 堅持 | けんじ kenji | adhering to (a view, policy, etc.); sticking to; holding fast to |
| 堅調 | けんちょう kenchou | firm (market); bullish; strong (sales, economy, etc.) |
| 堅実 | けんじつ kenjitsu | steady; sound; stable |
| 手堅い | てがたい tegatai | sound; sure; safe |
| 堅固 | けんご kengo | solid; strong; firm |
Study notes
堅 is a JLPT N1 kanji written with 12 strokes. It is taught at secondary-school level in Japan. Ranked #1049 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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