ChiramiN4 kanji · 11 strokes
悪 means bad
悪
亜 twisted · 心 heart
悪Memory trick
A twisted (亜) heart (心): bad.
Memory trick: a picture to help you remember the kanji, not its history.
Meaning and readings
- Meanings
- bad, vice, rascal, false
- JLPT level
- N4
- Strokes
- 11
- School grade
- Grade 3 in Japan
Japanese (kunyomi) わるい warui
わるい (warui) is the Japanese word for this kanji. You use it when the kanji stands alone or has kana after it. Dictionaries call this the kun reading.
Other Japanese readings: あし ashi, にくい nikui, ああ aa
From Chinese (onyomi) アク aku
アク (aku) came from Chinese with the character. You mostly hear it in words made of several kanji. Dictionaries call this the on reading.
Other readings from Chinese: オ o
Tap a reading to see when it's used. Why kanji have two kinds of reading: onyomi vs kunyomi.
Common word
悪い わるい · warui
bad, poor
Built from
Tap a part to see the N5 and N4 kanji that use it.
心 Used in 68 kanji
See all 4 at N5 and N4Quick check
What does 悪 mean?
Right: 悪 means bad.Not quite: 悪 means bad.In 悪い, which reading does 悪 use?
Right. 悪い is read わるい (warui): 悪 takes わる, its Japanese reading, with い after it.Not quite. 悪い is read わるい (warui): 悪 takes わる, its Japanese reading, with い after it.