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Inferiority

On’yomiれつ
Kun’yomiおと.る
MeaningsInferiority, Be Inferior To, Be Worse
JLPT N1 6 strokes #1578 most common Secondary school Radical power
書き順 · Stroke order

How to write 劣

Stroke order is not decoration — it determines how the character looks handwritten and how dictionaries index it.

6 strokes
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分解 · What it is made of

The parts of 劣

Almost every kanji is built from a small set of reusable parts. Learn the parts once and you stop memorising thousands of unrelated shapes.

部首 · Radical

The radical of 劣

Radical 19 of 214
Power

The radical is the part a paper dictionary files a kanji under, and it usually hints at meaning. 劣 is filed under (power) — radical number 19 of the 214 in the Kangxi system.

Other kanji built on 力

練習 · Practice

Drill 劣 right now

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Inferiority れつ おと.る
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熟語 · In real words

Words that use 劣

Kanji are almost never met alone. These are the most common words built from this character, ordered by how often they actually appear in Japanese.

劣勢 れっせい inferiority (e.g. numerical); inferior position; disadvantage
劣化 れっか deterioration (in quality, performance, etc.); degradation; worsening
劣悪 れつあく poor (quality, conditions, etc.); bad; inferior
卑劣 ひれつ mean; contemptible; despicable
鄙劣 ひれつ mean; contemptible; despicable
劣る おとる to be inferior to; to be less good at; to fall behind
優劣 ゆうれつ (relative) merits; superiority or inferiority; quality
劣等感 れっとうかん inferiority complex; sense of inferiority
見劣り みおとり unfavourable comparison; unfavorable comparison
拙劣 せつれつ clumsy; unskillful
同音 · Sound-alikes

Kanji that sound like 劣

Japanese has far more kanji than syllables, so one reading is shared by many characters. These are the ones you will confuse with 劣 — learn them together, not separately.

画数 · 6 strokes

Other 6-stroke kanji

Useful when looking a character up by stroke count — and a common source of visual mix-ups.

頻度 · Frequency

Next in the frequency list

劣 is the 1578th most common kanji in written Japanese. Learning in frequency order is the fastest route to reading real text.

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質問 · Questions

About the kanji 劣

What does the kanji 劣 mean?

劣 means Inferiority, Be Inferior To, Be Worse. It is the 1578th most common kanji in written Japanese.

How do you read the kanji 劣?

劣 is read on'yomi (Chinese-derived) れつ; kun'yomi (native Japanese) おと.る.

How many strokes does 劣 have?

劣 is written with 6 strokes. The animated diagram on this page shows the correct order.

What level is the kanji 劣?

It appears at JLPT level N1, and Japanese schoolchildren learn it in secondary school.

What is the radical of 劣?

The radical of 劣 is 力 (power), radical number 19 of the 214 Kangxi radicals. The radical is the component a dictionary files the character under, and it usually points at the character's meaning.

What parts is the kanji 劣 made of?

劣 is built from 少 (few) and 力 (power). Learning kanji as combinations of a few hundred reusable components is far more efficient than memorising each character as a separate shape.

What words use the kanji 劣?

Common words written with 劣 include 劣勢 (れっせい, inferiority (e.g. numerical); inferior position; disadvantage); 劣化 (れっか, deterioration (in quality, performance, etc.); degradation; worsening); 劣悪 (れつあく, poor (quality, conditions, etc.); bad; inferior).

Which kanji sound the same as 劣?

劣 shares a reading with 列 (れつ), 裂 (れつ), 烈 (れつ), among others. Same-sounding kanji are one of the most common sources of confusion in Japanese.

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