Meaning & readings
tyrannize, oppress
On’yomi ギャク
Kun’yomi しいた.げる
Origin
This character appears to depict a person being harmed or controlled by another. The shape shows a figure in a submissive or distressed posture, which directly conveys the sense of being oppressed or forced into hardship. Over time, this visual image of domination became the standard way to write the word for tyranny and oppression in Japanese.
AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Pictographic or simple.
Components
This character is treated as a single, undivided shape (虐).
Common words
Reference
- Strokes
- 9
- Kangxi radical
- 141
- Grade
- Jōyō (secondary school)
- Frequency rank
- #1464 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- level 1
- Unicode
- U+08650