The character 悪 relates to bad; unpleasant. Learn its readings together with whole words and see them in context.

The idea

Kanji may have native Japanese readings (kun) and readings borrowed through Chinese (on); learn a reading with its word. Learn complete words: 悪い (わるい) means bad; poor, and 悪口 (わるぐち) means insults; speaking badly of someone. 悪 has 11 strokes; follow their order in the linked KanjiVG diagram.

Patterns to compare
Japanese wordReadingMeaning
悪いわるいbad; poor
悪口わるぐちinsults; speaking badly of someone
最悪さいあくthe worst

Examples

  • 今日きょうは天気てんきが悪わるいです。The weather is bad today.
  • 体からだの具合ぐあいが悪わるいです。I do not feel well.
  • 人ひとの悪口わるぐちを言いわないでください。Please do not speak badly of other people.
  • 悪口わるぐちを聞きいて悲かなしくなりました。Hearing the insults made me sad.
  • 今日きょうは最悪さいあくの一日いちにちでした。Today was the worst day.
  • 電車でんしゃに遅おくれて気分きぶんが最悪さいあくです。I missed the train and feel awful.

Read-aloud uses a synthetic Japanese voice available on your device. Voice quality and availability vary; it does not assess your pronunciation.

Watch out

悪い is an い-adjective: its negative is 悪くない. 悪口 is read わるぐち with a voiced ぐ. Do not guess a word’s reading or meaning from the character alone: compare 悪い and 悪口. Also compare the shapes of 悪 and 亜; they are different characters. Compare the components: 悪：亜＋心／亜.

Try it yourself

  1. Write the reading of 悪い in hiragana.

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    わるい

    悪い is read わるい and means bad; poor.

  2. Write the reading of 悪口 in hiragana.

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    わるぐち

    悪口 is read わるぐち and means insults; speaking badly of someone.

  3. Fill in the missing kanji: 最＿（さいあく）.

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    悪

    悪 completes 最悪, read さいあく; the word means the worst.

Use it today

Cover the table, write 悪 from memory, read 悪い and 悪口 aloud, and make a sentence with one of them.