What is the Kanji for "Superior" and "Gentle"?

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

The Japanese Kanji for "Superior" and "Gentle" is "優".

This kanji has 3 readings:

Its kunyomi readings are "Yasa" and "Sugu".

Its onyomi reading is "Yuu".

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 radical "亻" means "Person" . And The kanji "憂" means "Anxious" and "Grief" and can be read as "Yuu", "U", and "Ure".

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

What does the kanji "優" mean in japanese?

"優" means "Superior" and "Gentle".

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:

優しい: "Kind". The Japanese adjective '優しい (やさしい)' means 'kind'. This adjective is used to describe someone or something that is considerate, caring, and gentle. It can be applied to a person's personality, actions, or the way they treat others. For example: She is a kind person - (彼女は優しい人です). The teacher gave a kind explanation - (先生は優しい説明をした).

優れる: "Excel". The verb '優れる (すぐれる)' means 'to excel'. This verb is used to express that someone or something is of exceptional quality, skill, or ability compared to others. It implies a high degree of excellence or superiority. For example: The athlete excelled in the competition - (その選手は競技で優れた). She excels at her job - (彼女は仕事で優れている).

優先: "Priority". The Japanese noun '優先 (ゆうせん)' means 'priority'. This word refers to something that is more important, urgent or deserving attention over other things. It indicates that something should come before or take precedence over other matters. For example: Her work has priority over her personal life - (彼女の仕事は個人生活より優先される). The teacher gave priority to grading the exams - (先生は試験採点を優先した).

優秀: "Excellence" or "Superiority". The Japanese adjectival noun '優秀 (ゆうしゅう)' means 'excellence' or 'superiority'. It is used to describe something or someone of exceptional quality, skill, or ability. For example: He is an excellent student - (彼は優秀な学生です). The company has a superior product - (その会社は優秀な製品を持っている).

女優: "Actress". The Japanese noun '女優 (じょゆう)' refers to a female performer or actor who plays a role in a movie, play, or other theatrical production. This word is used specifically to denote a woman in this profession, as opposed to the more general term 'actor' which can refer to both men and women. For example: She is a famous movie actress - (彼女は有名な映画女優です). The actress gave a brilliant performance - (女優の演技は素晴らしかった).

俳優: "Actor". The Japanese noun '俳優 (はいゆう)' refers to a person who performs in dramatic productions, films, or other performances. The term is used to describe both male and female performers in acting roles. Actors interpret and portray fictional or real-life characters through speech, movement, and emotional expression. For example: She is a famous actress - (彼女は有名な俳優です). I want to be an actor when I grow up - (私は大人になったらアクターになりたい).

優位: "Advantage". The Japanese noun '優位 (ゆうい)' means 'advantage'. It refers to a position of superiority or being better off than others in a particular situation. It can be used to describe a strategic, competitive, or comparative advantage that someone or something has. For example: Our company has the advantage in the market - (うちの会社は市場で優位にある). This team has the advantage going into the second half - (このチームは後半に向けて優位にある).

優勝: "Win". The verbal noun '優勝 (ゆうしょう)' means 'to win'. It is used to refer to winning a competition, match, or event. It implies emerging as the champion or victor. For example: My team won the championship - (私のチームが優勝しました). She won the race - (彼女が優勝しました).

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 "ゆ" is read as "yu". The hiragana "う" is read as "u". The hiragana "や" is read as "ya". The hiragana "さ" is read as "sa". The hiragana "す" is read as "su". And The hiragana "ぐ" is read as "gu".

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.