Skip to content
Kotomora

惨

wretched, disaster, cruelty, harsh

JLPTN1StatusJōyō · secondary schoolFrequencyTop 2,000Strokes11

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

Explore all words using 惨 →

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.