笑
笑 — Laugh
laugh
On’yomiショウ (shou)
Kun’yomiわらう (warau)
Kun’yomiえむ (emu)
Stroke order (10 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 笑
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 笑い | わらい warai | laugh; laughter; smile |
| 笑顔 | えがお egao | smiling face; smile |
| 笑み | えみ emi | smile |
| 苦笑い | にがわらい nigawarai | bitter smile; wry smile; forced smile |
| 作り笑い | つくりわらい tsukuriwarai | forced laugh; forced smile |
| 笑い声 | わらいごえ waraigoe | (sound of) laughter; laughing voice |
Study notes
笑 is a JLPT N3 kanji written with 10 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 4), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #913 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).
🔊 Tap the big kanji, any reading or any example word to hear it.