惜
惜 — Pity
pity, be sparing of, frugal, stingy, regret
On’yomiセキ (seki)
Kun’yomiおしい (oshii)
Kun’yomiおしむ (oshimu)
Stroke order (11 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 惜
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 惜しい | おしい oshii | regrettable; disappointing; unfortunate |
| 惜しむ | おしむ oshimu | to spare; to grudge; to be sparing (with) |
| 名残惜しい | なごりおしい nagorioshii | reluctant (to part) |
| 惜敗 | せきはい sekihai | regrettable defeat; defeat by a narrow margin |
| 惜しみ無く | おしみなく oshiminaku | without stint; freely |
| 痛惜 | つうせき tsuuseki | deep regret |
Study notes
惜 is a JLPT N1 kanji written with 11 strokes. It is taught at secondary-school level in Japan. Ranked #1641 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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