勢
勢 — Forces
forces, energy, military strength
On’yomiセイ (sei)
On’yomiゼイ (zei)
Kun’yomiいきおい (ikioi)
Kun’yomiはずみ (hazumi)
Stroke order (13 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 勢
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 姿勢 | しせい shisei | posture; pose; position |
| 情勢 | じょうせい jousei | state of things; state of affairs; situation |
| 勢力 | せいりょく seiryoku | influence; power; might |
| 勢い | いきおい ikioi | force; vigor; vigour |
| 態勢 | たいせい taisei | attitude; posture; preparedness |
| 大勢 | おおぜい oozei | crowd of people; great number of people; in great numbers |
Study notes
勢 is a JLPT N2 kanji written with 13 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 5), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #260 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.