Kanji N2

柔: tender, weakness, gentleness

柔 is a JLPT N2 kanji meaning tender, weakness, gentleness, written with 9 strokes. It is read ジュウ, ニュウ (on) and やわらか, やわらかい, やわ (kun). It is one of the jōyō kanji taught in secondary school. You will see it in 柔道 (じゅうどう, judo) and 柔らかい (やわらかい, soft).

柔

Meanings

  • tender
  • weakness
  • gentleness
  • softness
Strokes9
JLPT levelN2
School gradeSecondary school
Frequency#1187 of 2,500

On reading · Kun reading

On reading
  • ジュウ
  • ニュウ

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

Kun reading
  • やわらか
  • やわらかい
  • やわ
  • やわら

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.

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Now draw it

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

1234567890 / 9

Your turn: draw stroke 1 of 9. Start at the dot.

Common words with 柔

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

  • 柔道じゅうどう

    judo

    JLPT N4
  • 柔らかいやわらかい

    soft; tender; supple; flexible; limber; limp

    JLPT N4
  • 柔軟じゅうなん

    flexible; lithe; soft; pliable

    JLPT N1
  • 柔和にゅうわ

    gentle; mild; meek; tender

  • 柔らかやわらか

    soft; tender; pliant; supple

  • 優柔不断ゆうじゅうふだん

    indecisive; irresolute; shilly-shally

  • 懐柔かいじゅう

    winning over; placation; gentle persuasion

  • 柔軟体操じゅうなんたいそう

    calisthenics

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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; the Spanish meanings they lack, translated by Naraio from their English, are shared under the same licence. Example sentences from Tatoeba, CC BY 2.0 FR. JLPT lists after Jonathan Waller (tanos.co.uk), CC BY. Sentences split into words with IPADIC © NAIST and IPA, through Lindera.