硬
硬 — Stiff
stiff, hard
On’yomiコウ (kou)
Kun’yomiかたい (katai)
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 硬
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 強硬 | きょうこう kyoukou | firm; strong; unbending |
| 硬派 | こうは kouha | hard-liners; diehards; hawks |
| 硬直 | こうちょく kouchoku | stiffening; rigidity; rigor |
| 硬貨 | こうか kouka | coin; hard currency |
| 肝硬変 | かんこうへん kankouhen | cirrhosis (of the liver) |
| 硬い | かたい katai | hard; solid; tough |
Study notes
硬 is a JLPT N2 kanji written with 12 strokes. It is taught at secondary-school level in Japan. Ranked #1101 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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