Kanji N1

膨: swell, get fat, thick

膨 is a JLPT N1 kanji meaning swell, get fat, thick, written with 16 strokes. It is read ボウ (on) and ふくらむ, ふくれる (kun). It is one of the jōyō kanji taught in secondary school. You will see it in 膨大 (ぼうだい, huge) and 膨れる (ふくれる, to swell).

膨

Meanings

  • swell
  • get fat
  • thick
Strokes16
JLPT levelN1
School gradeSecondary school
Frequency#1293 of 2,500

On reading · Kun reading

On reading
  • ボウ

On'yomi: from Chinese, written in katakana. Used in compound words.

Kun reading
  • ふくらむ
  • ふくれる

Kun'yomi: native Japanese, in hiragana. The faint part is the okurigana, written in kana after the kanji.

Watch the stroke order

Every stroke in order, the live one in vermilion. Replay as often as you like.

12345678910111213141516

Now draw it

Trace each stroke in order. Wrong direction or wrong order gets flagged right away.

123456789101112131415160 / 16

Your turn: draw stroke 1 of 16. Start at the dot.

Common words with 膨

The most useful words written with it, easiest first. Every other kanji in them opens its own page.

  • 膨大ぼうだい

    huge; vast; enormous; colossal; extensive; large

    JLPT N2
  • 膨れるふくれる

    to swell (out); to expand; to be inflated

    JLPT N1
  • 膨らむふくらむ

    to expand; to swell (out); to get big

    JLPT N2
  • 膨らますふくらます

    to swell; to expand; to inflate; to bulge

    JLPT N2
  • 膨脹ぼうちょう

    expansion; swelling; increase; growth

    JLPT N1
  • 膨らみふくらみ

    swelling; bulge; puff

Ready to start?

It's free to start, from hiragana to your first kanji. Get in early and your account keeps every step.

Start free

Stroke order from KanjiVG © Ulrich Apel, CC BY-SA 3.0. Readings, meanings and words from KANJIDIC2 and JMdict, names from JMnedict, © EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0, and Wikidata, CC0. JLPT lists after Jonathan Waller (tanos.co.uk), CC BY.