激
激 — Violent
violent, get excited, enraged, chafe, incite
On’yomiゲキ (geki)
Kun’yomiはげしい (hageshii)
Stroke order (16 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 激
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 過激 | かげき kageki | extreme (measure, idea, etc.); radical; violent (language) |
| 急激 | きゅうげき kyuugeki | sudden; abrupt; rapid |
| 刺激 | しげき shigeki | stimulus; stimulation; irritation (esp. of the body, e.g. skin, eyes) |
| 激戦 | げきせん gekisen | fierce battle; hard-fought battle; hot contest |
| 激化 | げきか gekika | intensification; aggravation |
| 激動 | げきどう gekidou | violent shock; agitation; turbulence |
Study notes
激 is a JLPT N1 kanji written with 16 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 6), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #560 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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