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Kotomora

偽

falsehood, lie, deceive, pretend, counterfeit, forgery

JLPTN1StatusJōyō · secondary schoolFrequencyTop 2,000Strokes11

Readings

On'yomi

  • ギ
  • カ

Kun'yomi

  • いつわ.る
  • にせ
  • いつわ.り

Meaning

偽 centers on intentional deception: presenting something false as true, whether through lying, pretending, or creating a counterfeit. The meanings all share the idea of a deliberate misrepresentation.

Most common words using 偽

20 of 108
  • 偽にせ
    N1

    imitation; fake; phony; counterfeit; forged; bogus; sham

  • 偽物にせもの
    N2

    spurious article; forgery; counterfeit; imitation; sham

  • 偽装ぎそう
    N1

    camouflage; disguise

  • 偽造ぎぞう
    N1

    forgery; counterfeiting; fabrication; falsification

  • 偽りいつわり

    lie; falsehood; fiction; fabrication

  • 虚偽きょぎ

    falsehood; untruth; lie; misinformation

  • 偽善ぎぜん

    hypocrisy

  • 偽るいつわる

    to lie; to pretend; to feign; to falsify

  • 偽名ぎめい

    false name; alias; assumed name; pseudonym

  • 真偽しんぎ
    N1

    truth or falsehood; genuineness; authenticity; veracity

  • 偽者にせもの

    impostor; imposter; pretender; liar

  • 偽証ぎしょう

    false evidence; perjury; false testimony

  • 偽札にせさつ
    N3

    counterfeit (paper) money; counterfeit bill; counterfeit note

  • 偽札ぎさつ

    counterfeit bill; counterfeit note

  • 偽証罪ぎしょうざい

    crime of perjury

  • 偽計ぎけい

    deceptive plan

  • 偽薬ぎやく

    placebo

  • 偽書ぎしょ

    spurious letter; apocryphal book; forgery

  • 偽作ぎさく

    apocryphal work; forgery; spurious article

  • コンゴ偽面梟コンゴにせめんふくろう

    Tanzanian bay owl (Phodilus prigoginei); Congo bay owl

Explore all words using 偽 →

Study

Etymology

偽 combines 亻 (person) with 為, which historically relates to doing or making. The compound suggests a person making something that is not genuine, i.e., falsifying. The exact phonetic role of 為 is uncertain, but the semantic link to human action is clear.

Meaning mnemonic

A person 亻 beside 為 (which looks like a hand guiding an elephant in some interpretations, but here just think of it as 'doing'). Imagine a person doing something sneaky—crafting a fake object or telling a lie—so 偽 means falsehood.

Reading mnemonic

For ギ, picture a person wearing a disguise with a big fake **gear** on their shoulder: gear -> ギ, and the gear is part of the counterfeit costume.