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Drown

On’yomiでき・じょう・にょう
Kun’yomiいばり・おぼ.れる
MeaningsDrown, Indulge
13 strokes Secondary school Radical water
書き順 · Stroke order

How to write 溺

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 溺

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 溺

Radical 85 of 214
Water

The radical is the part a paper dictionary files a kanji under, and it usually hints at meaning. 溺 is filed under (water) — radical number 85 of the 214 in the Kangxi system.

Other kanji built on 水

練習 · Practice

Drill 溺 right now

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Drown でき・じょう・にょう いばり・おぼ.れる
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熟語 · In real words

Words that use 溺

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.

溺れる おぼれる to struggle in the water; to sink below the surface and become unable to breathe; to (near
溺愛 デキアイ infatuation, adoration, blind love, doting (on a child)
沈溺 チンデキ being immersed in water, being drowned; being infatuated, being dazed, being blinded by
耽溺 タンデキ indulgence (in alcohol, women, etc.), debauchery, dissipation
酖溺 タンデキ indulgence (in alcohol, women, etc.), debauchery, dissipation
溺れ オボレ to struggle in the water, to sink below the surface and become unable to breathe, to (near
溺レ オボレ to struggle in the water, to sink below the surface and become unable to breathe, to (near
溺れ死 オボレジニ death by drowning
溺らせ オボラセ to drown; to cause to be indulged or addicted
溺らそ オボラソ to drown; to cause to be indulged or addicted
同音 · Sound-alikes

Kanji that sound like 溺

Japanese has far more kanji than syllables, so one reading is shared by many characters. These are the ones you will confuse with 溺 — 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.

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質問 · Questions

About the kanji 溺

What does the kanji 溺 mean?

溺 means Drown, Indulge.

How do you read the kanji 溺?

溺 is read on'yomi (Chinese-derived) でき、じょう、にょう; kun'yomi (native Japanese) いばり、おぼ.れる.

How many strokes does 溺 have?

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

What level is the kanji 溺?

Japanese schoolchildren learn it in secondary school.

What is the radical of 溺?

The radical of 溺 is 水 (water), radical number 85 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 溺 made of?

溺 is built from 氵 (water) and 弱 (weak). 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 溺?

Common words written with 溺 include 溺れる (おぼれる, to struggle in the water; to sink below the surface and become unable to breathe; to (near); 溺愛 (デキアイ, infatuation, adoration, blind love, doting (on a child)); 沈溺 (チンデキ, being immersed in water, being drowned; being infatuated, being dazed, being blinded by).

Which kanji sound the same as 溺?

溺 shares a reading with 上 (じょう), 定 (じょう), 場 (じょう), 成 (じょう), 情 (じょう), among others. Same-sounding kanji are one of the most common sources of confusion in Japanese.

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