Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Nature & Elements

淑: graceful, gentle

Also: pure

JLPT N111 strokesSecondary schoolYour ink: 白 Not met

氵 carries the meaning · 叔 gives the sound

11 strokes
  • Small seal · Qin
  • Today

Small seal: Wikimedia Commons, public domain. Today’s form: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Two readings, and the words that use each

シュクshuku · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 淑女しゅくじょlady
  • 淑徳しゅくとくwomanly virtues

しとやかshitoyaka · kun'yomi · on its own

  • 淑やかしとやかgraceful; ladylike; modest

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 three raindrops falling—that's sanzui! Whenever you see these three dots on the left side of a kanji, think of water, liquids, or anything that flows.”
More in the 氵 water story
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
氵

Also built on water (氵)

All 125
叔

Also built on uncle (叔)

淑 takes the 叔 family's reading, シュク (shuku).

Also read シュク

6 kanji share this on'yomi

Easy to confuse

The difference, side by side
淑 graceful · 氵
vs寂 loneliness · 宀
淑 has 氵 where 寂 has 宀.
In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · shū

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

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

Pinyin shū most common reading

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

One click tells us. No sign-up.