Kanji N1

謙: self-effacing, humble oneself, condescend

謙 is a JLPT N1 kanji meaning self-effacing, humble oneself, condescend, written with 17 strokes. It is read ケン (on) and へりくだる (kun). It is one of the jōyō kanji taught in secondary school. You will see it in 謙虚 (けんきょ, modest) and 謙遜 (けんそん, modesty).

謙

Meanings

  • self-effacing
  • humble oneself
  • condescend
  • be modest
Strokes17
JLPT levelN1
School gradeSecondary school
Frequency#1582 of 2,500

On reading · Kun reading

On reading
  • ケン

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

Kun reading
  • へりくだる

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.

1234567891011121314151617

Now draw it

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

12345678910111213141516170 / 17

Your turn: draw stroke 1 of 17. Start at the dot.

Common words with 謙

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

  • 謙虚けんきょ

    modest; humble

    JLPT N2
  • 謙遜けんそん

    modesty; humility; being humble

    JLPT N2
  • 謙るへりくだる

    to deprecate oneself and praise the listener

    JLPT N1

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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.