Skip to content
道Nihongo Path
厄

厄·misfortune

On-yomi
ヤク
Kun-yomi
none

By Nihongo PathUpdated

Stroke order

Write it in this order; the numbers mark where each stroke starts.

4 strokes, numbered in writing order. Data: KanjiVG (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Common words

WordReadingMeaning
厄介やっかいtroublesome
厄年やくどしunlucky year
災厄さいやくcalamity, disaster
厄払いやくばらいexorcism of bad luck

Example sentences

  1. この仕事は本当に厄介だ。

    このしごとはほんとうにやっかいだ。

    This job is really troublesome.

  2. 今年は厄年なので、神社でお祓いを受けた。

    ことしはやくどしなので、じんじゃでおはらいをうけた。

    This is an unlucky year for me, so I had a purification done at the shrine.

  3. 厄介な問題を一つずつ片づけていこう。

    やっかいなもんだいをひとつずつかたづけていこう。

    Let's clear up the troublesome problems one by one.

Similar-looking kanji

Do not confuse these on the exam.

Common mistakes

  • Reading 厄介 as やくかい — the ク doubles to a small っ: やっかい
  • Reading 厄年 as やくねん — it is やくどし

Memory aid

Picture it

A person bent double (卩) crouching under an overhanging cliff (厂) — misfortune is about to fall on them.

Vocabulary using this kanji

Quick check

1 / 2Multiple choiceDifficulty 4 of 5

What does the kanji 厄 mean?