潔
潔 — Undefiled
undefiled, pure, clean, righteous, gallant
On’yomiケツ (ketsu)
Kun’yomiいさぎよい (isagiyoi)
Stroke order (15 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 潔
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 清潔 | せいけつ seiketsu | clean; hygienic; sanitary |
| 簡潔 | かんけつ kanketsu | concise; brief; succinct |
| 潔い | いさぎよい isagiyoi | gracious (defeat, apology, etc.); graceful; honourable (e.g. death) |
| 潔白 | けっぱく keppaku | innocence; guiltlessness; purity |
| 不潔 | ふけつ fuketsu | unclean; dirty; unsanitary |
| 潔癖 | けっぺき keppeki | fastidiousness; love of cleanliness; uprightness |
Study notes
潔 is a JLPT N1 kanji written with 15 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 5), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #1595 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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