Kanji Library
KanjiJLPT N1 › 乏

乏 — Destitution

JLPT N14 strokesSecondary school#1646 most used
destitution, scarce, limited
On’yomiボウ (bou)
Kun’yomiとぼしい (toboshii)
Kun’yomiともしい (tomoshii)

Stroke order (4 strokes)

1 2 3 4

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

Common words using 乏

WordReadingMeaning
貧乏びんぼう
binbou
poverty-stricken; destitute; poor
欠乏けつぼう
ketsubou
deficiency; insufficiency; shortage
貧乏人びんぼうにん
binbounin
poor person; the poor
乏しいとぼしい
toboshii
meagre; meager; scarce
窮乏きゅうぼう
kyuubou
poverty; destitution; privation
耐乏たいぼう
taibou
austerity; voluntary privation

Study notes

乏 is a JLPT N1 kanji written with 4 strokes. It is taught at secondary-school level in Japan. Ranked #1646 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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