Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Human Body & People

妖: attractive, bewitching

Also: calamity

N1 (our estimate)7 strokesSecondary schoolYour ink: 白 Not met

女 carries the meaning · 夭 is drawn in

7 strokes

One reading, and the words that use it

ヨウyou · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 妖怪ようかいghost; apparition; phantom
  • 妖精ようせいfairy; sprite; elf
  • 妖艶ようえんfascinating; voluptuous; bewitching

Also read あやしい, なまめく, わざわい, with no example words in our sources. Words: JMdict, EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0.

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成り立ち

Where it comes from

Memory story · made up to help you remember

“Grace and strength! This is the radical of the feminine, representing mothers, daughters, and the many roles women have played throughout history.”
More in the 女 woman story
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
女

Also built on woman (女)

All 38
夭

Also built on 夭

Also read ヨウ

34 kanji share this on'yomiAll 34

Easy to confuse

The difference, side by side
妖 attractive · 女
vs沃 fertility · 氵
妖 has 女 where 沃 has 氵.
In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · yāo

Same form: 妖 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).

Simplified
妖 mainland China, Singapore
Traditional
妖 Taiwan, Hong Kong

Pinyin yāo most common reading

Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.

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