夢
夢 — Dream
dream, vision, illusion
On’yomiム (mu)
On’yomiボウ (bou)
Kun’yomiゆめ (yume)
Kun’yomiゆめみる (yumemiru)
Kun’yomiくらい (kurai)
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 夢
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 夢 | ゆめ yume | dream; dream; hope |
| 悪夢 | あくむ akumu | nightmare; bad dream |
| 初夢 | はつゆめ hatsuyume | first dream of the New year (believed to foretell one's luck); dream on the night of setsubun |
| 夢想 | むそう musou | dream; vision; reverie |
| 夢中 | むちゅう muchuu | absorbed in; immersed in; crazy about |
| 夢にも | ゆめにも yumenimo | (not) in the slightest; (not) at all |
Study notes
夢 is a JLPT N3 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 #943 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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