Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Human Body & People

拙: bungling, clumsy

Also: unskillful

JLPT N18 strokesSecondary schoolYour ink: 白 Not met

扌 carries the meaning · 出 gives the sound

8 strokes

One reading, and the words that use it

セツsetsu · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 拙速せっそくrough-and-ready; knocked-up; hasty
  • 稚拙ちせつunskillful; childish; immature
  • 拙守せっしゅpoor defense; poor defence
  • 巧拙こうせつskill; workmanship; dexterity
  • 拙劣せつれつclumsy; unskillful

Also read つたない, with no example words in our sources. Words: JMdict, EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Learn it 4 steps
Print sheet Present
成り立ち

Where it comes from

Memory story · made up to help you remember

“Imagine a hand reaching out from the left to grab, hold, or shape the world! When you see these three strokes, think of a hand in motion.”
More in the 扌 hand story
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
扌

Also built on hand (扌)

All 88
出

Also built on exit (出)

The 出 sound family doesn't share one reading.

Also read セツ

11 kanji share this on'yomi

Easy to confuse

The difference, side by side
拙 bungling · 扌
vs屈 yield · 尸
拙 has 扌 where 屈 has 尸.
In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · zhuō

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

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

Pinyin zhuō 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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