Explore 恐 in words for fear and frightening things. Learn each reading with the whole word and its context.

The idea

恐 has 10 strokes; follow the linked stroke-order diagram. 怖い is こわい, 恐ろしい is おそろしい, 恐怖 is きょうふ and 恐れる is おそれる. The table connects each word to a sentence.

Patterns to compare
WordReadingExample in context
恐ろしいおそろしいI heard a frightening story.
恐怖きょうふThe earthquake caused fear.
恐れるおそれるI fear failure.
怖いこわいThat film was frightening.

Examples

  • あの映画えいがは怖こわかったです。That film was frightening.
  • 恐おそろしい話はなしを聞ききました。I heard a frightening story.
  • 地震じしんが恐怖きょうふを引ひき起おこしました。The earthquake caused fear.
  • 私わたしは失敗しっぱいを恐おそれています。I fear failure.
  • 彼女かのじょは暗闇くらやみを怖こわがっていました。She was afraid of the dark.
  • その子こは恐怖きょうふを感かんじました。The child felt fear.

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

Watch out

怖い and 恐ろしい describe something frightening; 恐れる is a verb meaning to fear. 恐怖 names fear itself, while 危険 means danger, which may exist even without fear.

Try it yourself

  1. Write the reading of 恐ろしい in hiragana.

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    おそろしい

    恐ろしい is おそろしい: the story was frightening. Remember the reading with the whole adjective.

  2. Write the reading of 恐怖 in hiragana.

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    きょうふ

    恐怖 is きょうふ: the earthquake caused fear. Both characters form a noun.

  3. Choose the missing kanji: ＿れる（おそれる）［恐／危］.

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    恐

    恐 completes 恐れる, read おそれる. Here the speaker fears failure.

Use it today

Write 恐 following the diagram. Cover the table, read 恐ろしい and 恐怖, then make a sentence with one of them.