What is the Kanji for "Desire" and "Longing"?

If you are wondering what is the Japanese Kanji for "Desire" and "Longing", you've come to the right place!

The Japanese Kanji for "Desire" and "Longing" is "欲".

This kanji has 2 readings:

Its kunyomi reading is "Ho".

Its onyomi reading is "Yoku".

kunyomi readings are based on the pronunciation of native Japanese words, and onyomi readings are based on the Chinese pronunciation of the character.

If you visually breakdown this kanji, you can see is made up of 2 parts:

The kanji "谷" means "Valley" and can be read as "Koku" and "Tani". And The kanji "欠" means "Lack" and can be read as "Ka" and "Ketsu".

Now, let's make sure you understand this kanji the other way around too.

What does the kanji "欲" mean in japanese?

"欲" means "Desire" and "Longing".

Japanese School Students learn this kanji in Sixth Grade, while foreigners may learn this kanji in preparation for the JLPT N3 exam.

Here are some words that use this kanji:

欲しい: "Want" or "Desire". The Japanese adjective '欲しい (ほしい)' means 'want' or 'desire'. It is used to express a need or strong wish for something. It can be applied to both concrete objects as well as abstract concepts. For example: I want that book - (その本が欲しい). She desires a new car - (彼女は新しい車が欲しい).

欲しがる: "Want". The Japanese verb '欲しがる (ほしがる)' means 'to want'. This verb expresses a strong desire or wish for something. It is used to describe the feeling of wanting or desiring an object, activity, or situation. For example: I want that toy - (あの玩具が欲しがる). She wants to go to the park - (彼女は公園に行きたがっている).

意欲: "Motivation". The noun '意欲 (いよく)' refers to a strong desire or eagerness to accomplish something. It describes an internal drive or ambition that motivates someone to take action and pursue their goals. This word can be used in various contexts, such as in education to describe a student's motivation to learn, or in the workplace to describe an employee's motivation to excel at their job. For example: Her strong motivation allowed her to achieve her goals - (強い意欲により、彼女は目標を達成することができた). The team has a high level of motivation to win the championship - (チームには優勝への強い意欲がある).

欲望: "Desire". The Japanese noun '欲望 (よくぼう)' means 'desire'. It refers to a strong feeling of wanting to have something or wishing for something. This word can be used to describe various types of desires, such as physical, emotional, or material. For example: His desire for power is strong - (彼の権力への欲望は強い). She has a strong desire to succeed - (彼女は成功したい欲望が強い).

食欲: "Appetite". The Japanese noun '食欲 (しょくよく)' refers to one's desire or craving for food. It describes the physical and psychological need or longing for sustenance. This term is often used to express a healthy, natural hunger, as opposed to an obsession or compulsive eating. For example: I have a big appetite today - (今日は食欲が大きい). He lost his appetite after the illness - (あの病気の後、彼の食欲がなくなった).

欲求: "Desire". The Japanese verbal noun '欲求 (よっきゅう)' means 'desire'. It refers to a strong feeling or urge to have or do something. '欲求' can be used to describe various types of desires, such as physical, emotional, or psychological. For example: He has a strong desire to travel the world - (彼は世界を旅したいという強い欲求がある). The desire for love and affection is a basic human need - (愛と愛情への欲求は人間の基本的な必要である).

欲: "Desire". The Japanese noun '欲 (よく)' refers to a strong want or need for something. It can indicate a person's strong urge or craving, such as for material possessions, status, power, etc. It commonly has a negative connotation, implying greed or excessive selfishness. For example: He has a strong desire for money - (彼はお金への欲が強い). I tried to control my desires - (私はわが欲をコントロールしようとした).

欲張り: "Greedy" or "Selfish". The adjectival noun '欲張り (よくばり)' means 'greedy' or 'selfish'. It describes someone who wants more than their fair share or more than they need. The word can have a negative connotation and imply that the person is being inconsiderate of others. For example: She's so greedy, she always wants the biggest slice of cake - (彼女は本当に欲張りで、ケーキの一番大きな部分をいつも欲しがる). Don't be so greedy, leave some for the others - (あまり欲張らずに、他の人のことも考えて)

To make really sure you learn this Kanji, I've prepared an interactive lesson for you. You are going to learn the readings and meanings of this kanji.

But first, you need to know a little bit about Hiragana and Katakana.

Hiragana and katakana are japanese syllabaries, this means that each character represents a syllable.

This are the characters you need to know for this lesson:

The hiragana "よ" is read as "yo". The hiragana "く" is read as "ku". And The hiragana "ほ" is read as "ho".

Heres a quick tutorial on how to use it. You'll be asked three type of questions: meaning, reading, and writing.

For meanings questions all you have to do is type the english meaning. If there is more than one meaning, you have to include them all in your answer separating them by commas (,).

For Reading questions you have to type the reading in romaji (roman letters, our normal alphabet) and it'll be automatically converted to hiragana if necessary. If there is more than one reading, you have to include them all in your answer separating them by commas (,).

For Writing questions some options will appear and all you have to do is select the correct ones.