Skip to content
Kotomora

突

stab, protruding, thrust, pierce, prick, collision, sudden

JLPTN3StatusJōyō · secondary schoolFrequencyTop 1,000Strokes8

Readings

On'yomi

  • トツ
  • カ

Kun'yomi

  • つ.く

Meaning

突 centers on a forceful, sudden outward motion: thrusting, stabbing, or piercing, and by extension anything that protrudes or happens abruptly, like a collision.

Most common words using 突

24 of 250
  • 突然とつぜん
    N3

    abrupt; sudden; unexpected

  • 突破とっぱ
    N1

    breaking through; breakthrough; penetration

  • 衝突しょうとつ
    N2

    collision; crash; impact; running into

  • 突入とつにゅう

    rushing into; breaking into; storming

  • 突くつく
    N1

    to prick; to stab

  • 突くつつく
    N1

    to poke (repeatedly, lightly); to nudge

  • 突きつき
    N1

    thrust; stab; lunge; pass (in fencing)

  • 唐突とうとつ

    abrupt; sudden

  • 突如とつじょ
    N2

    suddenly; all of a sudden; unexpectedly

  • 突っ込むつっこむ
    N2

    to thrust (something) into (something); to cram; to stuff; to shove

  • 激突げきとつ

    crash; smashing (into); ramming; (violent) collision

  • 突出とっしゅつ

    projection; protrusion; jutting out; sticking out

  • 突起とっき

    protuberance; projection; prominence; protrusion; bump; boss; process; apophysis

  • 煙突えんとつ
    N2

    chimney; smokestack; funnel (of a ship); stovepipe

  • 追突ついとつ
    N1

    rear-end collision

  • 突進とっしん

    rush; dash; charge

  • 突風とっぷう
    N1

    gust (of wind); blast

  • 突き刺すつきさす
    N1

    to stab; to stick; to pierce; to thrust

  • 突貫とっかん

    charging (at the enemy) with a shout; rush

  • 突き抜けるつきぬける
    N1

    to pierce through; to break through

  • 突っ張りつっぱり

    prop; strut; support; brace; bar

  • 楯突くたてつく
    N1

    to defy; to disobey; to rebel against; to oppose; to resist

  • 突き上げるつきあげる

    to push up; to thrust up; to stick up; to raise

  • 突き当たるつきあたる
    N2

    to run into; to collide with; to crash into; to bump against

Explore all words using 突 →

Study

Etymology

突 combines 穴 (hole, cave) and 犬 (dog). The traditional explanation is a dog suddenly bursting out of a cave, giving the sense of thrusting or sudden emergence.

Meaning mnemonic

A dog (犬) suddenly shoots out of a cave (穴), thrusting forward and piercing the air. That sudden, protruding motion is the core of 突.

Reading mnemonic

For トツ, imagine the dog bursting out with a sharp 'tots!' sound, like a sudden thrust: tots -> トツ.