優
優 — Tenderness
tenderness, excel, surpass, actor, superiority, gentleness
On’yomiユウ (yuu)
On’yomiウ (u)
Kun’yomiやさしい (yasashii)
Kun’yomiすぐれる (sugureru)
Kun’yomiまさる (masaru)
Stroke order (17 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 優
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 優勝 | ゆうしょう yuushou | overall victory; championship; winning the title |
| 俳優 | はいゆう haiyuu | actor; actress; player |
| 優先 | ゆうせん yuusen | preference; priority; precedence |
| 女優 | じょゆう joyuu | actress; female actor |
| 優秀 | ゆうしゅう yuushuu | superior; excellent; brilliant |
| 優遇 | ゆうぐう yuuguu | favorable treatment; favourable treatment; hospitality |
Study notes
優 is a JLPT N3 kanji written with 17 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 6), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #334 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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