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Delicate

On’yomi
Kun’yomiかす.か
MeaningsDelicate, Minuteness, Insignificance
JLPT N1 13 strokes #1084 most common Secondary school Radical step
書き順 · Stroke order

How to write 微

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

13 strokes
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分解 · What it is made of

The parts of 微

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

radical stop =
Delicate
部首 · Radical

The radical of 微

Radical 60 of 214
Step

The radical is the part a paper dictionary files a kanji under, and it usually hints at meaning. 微 is filed under (step) — radical number 60 of the 214 in the Kangxi system.

Other kanji built on 彳

練習 · Practice

Drill 微 right now

Three quick games built from this character's real data. Your streak is kept in this browser.

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Delicate び かす.か
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熟語 · In real words

Words that use 微

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.

微妙 びみょう subtle; delicate; fine
微候 ちょうこう sign; indication; omen
微生物 びせいぶつ microbe; germ
微小 びしょう microscopic
微震 びしん slight earthquake
微動 びどう slight movement; slight tremor; quiver
顕微鏡 けんびきょう microscope
微笑 びしょう smile
微量 びりょう minuscule amount; extremely small quantity
微細 びさい minute; fine; detailed
名乗り · Name readings

How 微 is read in names

Japanese names use readings that appear nowhere else in the language. These are 微's — the reason personal and place names are so hard to read even for native speakers.

同音 · Sound-alikes

Kanji that sound like 微

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

画数 · 13 strokes

Other 13-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

微 is the 1084th 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 微

What does the kanji 微 mean?

微 means Delicate, Minuteness, Insignificance. It is the 1084th most common kanji in written Japanese.

How do you read the kanji 微?

微 is read on'yomi (Chinese-derived) び; kun'yomi (native Japanese) かす.か.

How many strokes does 微 have?

微 is written with 13 strokes. The animated diagram on this page shows the correct order.

What level is the kanji 微?

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

What is the radical of 微?

The radical of 微 is 彳 (step), radical number 60 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 words use the kanji 微?

Common words written with 微 include 微妙 (びみょう, subtle; delicate; fine); 微候 (ちょうこう, sign; indication; omen); 微生物 (びせいぶつ, microbe; germ).

Which kanji sound the same as 微?

微 shares a reading with 備 (び), 美 (び), 未 (び), 尾 (び), 梶 (び), among others. Same-sounding kanji are one of the most common sources of confusion in Japanese.

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