惨
wretched, disaster, cruelty, harsh
Readings
On'yomi
- サン
- ザン
Kun'yomi
- みじ.め
- いた.む
- むご.い
Meaning
惨 centers on extreme suffering and harshness: something so bad it feels like a disaster, marked by cruelty or deep misery.
Most common words using 惨
20 of 29- 悲惨ひさんN1
disastrous; tragic; miserable; wretched; pitiful; woeful; outrageous
- 惨事さんじ
disaster; tragedy; tragic incident; horrible accident
- 惨めみじめN2
miserable; wretched; unhappy; sad; pitiable
- 惨敗ざんぱい
ignominious defeat; crushing failure; utterly beaten; overwhelming defeat
- 惨劇さんげき
tragedy; tragic event
- 惨状さんじょう
disastrous scene; terrible spectacle
- 凄惨せいさん
ghastly; gruesome; appalling; lurid
- 惨殺ざんさつ
slaughter; massacre
- 惨いむごい
cruel; merciless; pitiless; brutal; atrocious; inhuman
- 陰惨いんさん
sadness and gloom
- 惨憺さんたん
miserable; pitiful; tragic; wretched; horrible; terrible
- 惨禍さんか
calamity; disaster; catastrophe
- 大惨事だいさんじ
great disaster; catastrophe; train wreck
- 惨さん
appalling
- 惨たらしいむごたらしい
(incredibly) cruel; atrocious; brutal; horrible; terrible; horrific; tragic
- 惨害さんがい
heavy damage; havoc; ravages
- 惨死ざんし
tragic death; violent death
- 惨死体ざんしたい
corpse of a person who has met a violent death
- 惨殺者ざんさつしゃ
brutal murderer
- 惨況さんきょう
wretched state; pitiable condition
Study
Etymology
惨 combines 忄 (heart/mind) with 参, which likely contributes the sound and an idea of gathering or intensifying, suggesting a heart overwhelmed by harshness.
Meaning mnemonic
The heart radical 忄 beside 参, which looks like a gathering of strokes, suggests a heart crushed by accumulated suffering: wretchedness and disaster.
Reading mnemonic
For サン, imagine the sun (サン) beating down mercilessly on a wretched, disaster-stricken landscape, making the cruelty feel even harsher.