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Decline

On’yomiすい
Kun’yomiおとろ.える
MeaningsDecline, Wane, Weaken
JLPT N1 10 strokes #1400 most common Secondary school Radical clothes
書き順 · Stroke order

How to write 衰

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

10 strokes
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分解 · What it is made of

The parts of 衰

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 衰

Radical 145 of 214
Clothes

The radical is the part a paper dictionary files a kanji under, and it usually hints at meaning. 衰 is filed under (clothes) — radical number 145 of the 214 in the Kangxi system.

Other kanji built on 衣

練習 · Practice

Drill 衰 right now

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Decline すい おとろ.える
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熟語 · In real words

Words that use 衰

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.

老衰 ろうすい senility; senile decay; infirmity (through age)
衰退 すいたい decline; degeneration; decay
衰頽 すいたい decline; degeneration; decay
衰え おとろえ weakening; emaciation; decline
衰弱 すいじゃく weakness; debility; breakdown
盛衰 せいすい rise and fall; ups and downs; welfare
衰える おとろえる to become weak; to decline; to wear
古び衰える ふるびおとろえる to waste away
減衰 げんすい attenuation; damping; decay
五衰 ゴスイ five signs of the impending death of a heavenly being
同音 · Sound-alikes

Kanji that sound like 衰

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

画数 · 10 strokes

Other 10-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

衰 is the 1400th 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 衰

What does the kanji 衰 mean?

衰 means Decline, Wane, Weaken. It is the 1400th most common kanji in written Japanese.

How do you read the kanji 衰?

衰 is read on'yomi (Chinese-derived) すい; kun'yomi (native Japanese) おとろ.える.

How many strokes does 衰 have?

衰 is written with 10 strokes. The animated diagram on this page shows the correct order.

What level is the kanji 衰?

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

What is the radical of 衰?

The radical of 衰 is 衣 (clothes), radical number 145 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 衰?

Common words written with 衰 include 老衰 (ろうすい, senility; senile decay; infirmity (through age)); 衰退 (すいたい, decline; degeneration; decay); 衰頽 (すいたい, decline; degeneration; decay).

Which kanji sound the same as 衰?

衰 shares a reading with 出 (すい), 水 (すい), 推 (すい), 吹 (すい), 剤 (すい), among others. Same-sounding kanji are one of the most common sources of confusion in Japanese.

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