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Kotomora

荒

laid waste, rough, rude, wild

JLPTN2StatusJōyō · secondary schoolFrequencyTop 2,000Strokes9

Readings

On'yomi

  • コウ

Kun'yomi

  • あ.らす
  • あ.れる
  • あら.い
  • すさ.ぶ
  • すさ.む
  • あ.らし

Nanori

  • ら

Meaning

荒 centers on a state of neglect or lack of control: land left wild and unmanaged, surfaces that are rough and untended, or behavior that is rude and unrestrained.

Most common words using 荒

20 of 141
  • 荒れあれ

    stormy weather; tempest; chaps (of skin)

  • 荒いあらい
    N2

    rough; wild; violent; rude; coarse; harsh; fierce; heavy (e.g. breathing)

  • 荒らすあらす
    N1

    to lay waste; to devastate; to damage

  • 荒らしあらし

    (Internet) troll; disturber

  • 荒野こうや

    wasteland; wilderness; deserted land; prairie; vast plain; wilds; desert; wild land

  • 荒木あらき

    logs in bark; rough wood; unseasoned timber; new lumber

  • 荒廃こうはい
    N1

    ruin; destruction; devastation; waste; decay

  • 肌荒れはだあれ

    bad skin; rough skin; unhealthy skin; skin irritation; skin breakouts

  • 荒れるあれる
    N2

    to become stormy; to become rough (of the sea)

  • 荒々しいあらあらしい
    N1

    rough; wild; rude; harsh; gruff; violent

  • 荒ぶすさぶ

    to grow wild; to run to waste; to become degenerate

  • 荒波あらなみ

    raging waves; stormy seas

  • 荒っぽいあらっぽい
    N2

    wild; violent; rough-mannered; rude

  • 破天荒はてんこう

    unheard-of; unprecedented

  • 荒むすさむ

    to grow wild; to run to waste; to become degenerate

  • 荒地あれち

    wasteland; wilderness; abandoned land; devastated land

  • 荒地あれち

    Arechi

  • 荒唐無稽こうとうむけい

    absurd; nonsensical; preposterous

  • 荒天こうてん

    stormy weather

  • 荒稼ぎあらかせぎ

    making a killing; making easy money

Explore all words using 荒 →

Study

Etymology

荒 combines 艹 (grass) with 巟, a component associated with emptiness or wasteland. Together they suggest land overgrown with grass and left uncultivated.

Meaning mnemonic

Grass 艹 covers a wasteland 巟, making the ground rough and wild. When people act like an untended field, they become rude and uncontrolled.

Reading mnemonic

For コウ, imagine a wild field so rough that even a cow won't enter: cow -> コウ, and the cow avoids the rough, wasted land.