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Kotomora

惑

beguile, delusion, perplexity

JLPTN1StatusJōyō · secondary schoolFrequencyTop 1,000Strokes12

Readings

On'yomi

  • ワク

Kun'yomi

  • まど.う

Meaning

惑 centers on a mind caught in confusion: being beguiled, lost in delusion, or tangled in perplexity. It describes a state where clear thinking is disrupted by misleading or uncertain influences.

Most common words using 惑

20 of 105
  • 迷惑めいわく
    N3

    trouble; bother; annoyance; nuisance; inconvenience

  • 惑星わくせい
    N1

    planet

  • 疑惑ぎわく
    N1

    doubt; misgivings; distrust; suspicion

  • 誘惑ゆうわく
    N1

    temptation; allurement; lure; enticement; seduction

  • 困惑こんわく
    N1

    bewilderment; perplexity; embarrassment; discomfiture; bafflement

  • 戸惑うとまどう
    N2

    to be bewildered; to be perplexed

  • 思惑おもわく
    N1

    expectation; anticipation; prediction; forecast; calculations

  • 魅惑みわく
    N1

    fascination; captivation; charm; lure; allurement

  • 惑わすまどわす
    N1

    to bewilder; to perplex; to puzzle; to delude; to mislead; to deceive

  • 小惑星しょうわくせい

    asteroid

  • 戸惑いとまどい

    being at sea; losing one's bearings; confusion; wonderment

  • 惑うまどう

    to get lost; to lose one's bearings

  • 当惑とうわく
    N1

    bewilderment; perplexity; embarrassment; confusion

  • 逃げ惑うにげまどう

    to run about frantically trying to escape; to run this way and that to make one's escape

  • 幻惑げんわく

    fascination; bewitchment; entrancement; dazzlement

  • 惑わく

    klesha

  • 不惑ふわく

    past forty; following right course

  • 蠱惑こわく

    fascination; glamour; glamor; enchantment; seduction

  • 惑いまどい

    delusion; illusion; infatuation; bewilderment; perplexity

  • はた迷惑はためいわく

    nuisance to other people; inconvenience to others

Explore all words using 惑 →

Study

Etymology

惑 combines 或 (a phonetic element with a sense of 'or' or 'uncertainty') with 心 (heart/mind), suggesting a mind that cannot decide and is therefore confused or deluded.

Meaning mnemonic

The top 或 looks like a tangle of possibilities (or this, or that), and the bottom 心 is the heart. Picture your heart tangled in a web of 'or's, leaving you beguiled and perplexed.

Reading mnemonic

For ワク, imagine a confused person walking into a room and exclaiming 'Whack!' as they bump into a wall of delusion: whack -> ワク, and the mind is completely perplexed.