欲
欲 — Longing
longing, covetousness, greed, passion, desire, craving
On’yomiヨク (yoku)
Kun’yomiほっする (hossuru)
Kun’yomiほしい (hoshii)
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 欲
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 意欲 | いよく iyoku | will; desire; eagerness |
| 欲 | よく yoku | greed; craving; desire |
| 食欲 | しょくよく shokuyoku | appetite (for food) |
| 欲求 | よっきゅう yokkyuu | desire; want; will |
| 欲望 | よくぼう yokubou | desire; appetite; lust |
| 欲しい | ほしい hoshii | wanting (to have); desiring; wishing for |
Study notes
欲 is a JLPT N3 kanji written with 11 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 6), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #902 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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