困
困 — Quandary
quandary, become distressed, annoyed
On’yomiコン (kon)
Kun’yomiこまる (komaru)
Stroke order (7 strokes)
Watch the strokes draw themselves in the correct order — numbers mark where each stroke starts. Diagram from KanjiVG (CC BY-SA).
Common words using 困
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 困難 | こんなん konnan | difficulty; hardship; trouble |
| 貧困 | ひんこん hinkon | poverty; penury; need |
| 困惑 | こんわく konwaku | bewilderment; perplexity; embarrassment |
| 困り果てる | こまりはてる komarihateru | to be at a complete loss; to be without recourse; to be completely stymied |
| 困る | こまる komaru | to be troubled; to have difficulty; to be in a fix |
| 困窮 | こんきゅう konkyuu | poverty; need; destitution |
Study notes
困 is a JLPT N3 kanji written with 7 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 6), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #843 of the 2,500 most frequent kanji in newspapers. On’yomi (音読み) are Chinese-derived readings mostly used in compound words; kun’yomi (訓読み) are native Japanese readings, with any highlighted part written in hiragana after the kanji (okurigana).
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