消
消 — Extinguish
extinguish, blow out, turn off, neutralize, cancel
On’yomiショウ (shou)
Kun’yomiきえる (kieru)
Kun’yomiけす (kesu)
Stroke order (10 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 消
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 消費 | しょうひ shouhi | consumption; expenditure; spending |
| 消費者 | しょうひしゃ shouhisha | consumer (of a product, service, etc.); customer; (end) user |
| 消費税 | しょうひぜい shouhizei | consumption tax (incl. sales tax, VAT, excise duty, etc.) |
| 解消 | かいしょう kaishou | cancellation; liquidation; resolution |
| 消極的 | しょうきょくてき shoukyokuteki | negative; passive; half-hearted |
| 消防 | しょうぼう shoubou | fire fighting; fire department; fire brigade |
Study notes
消 is a JLPT N3 kanji written with 10 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 3), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #345 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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