Kanji Library
Kanji VocabularyJLPT N1 › 徳

徳 — Benevolence

JLPT N114 strokesGrade 4#1091 most used
benevolence, virtue, goodness, commanding respect
On’yomiトク (toku)
Kun’yomi

Stroke order (14 strokes)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Watch the strokes draw themselves in the correct order — numbers mark where each stroke starts. Diagram from KanjiVG (CC BY-SA).

Common words using 徳

WordReadingMeaning
道徳どうとく
doutoku
morals; morality
悪徳あくとく
akutoku
vice; immorality; corruption
道徳的どうとくてき
doutokuteki
ethical; moral
不徳ふとく
futoku
lack of virtue; immorality; vice
美徳びとく
bitoku
virtue
徳義とくぎ
tokugi
morals; morality; sincerity

Study notes

徳 is a JLPT N1 kanji written with 14 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 4), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #1091 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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