虚
void, emptiness, unpreparedness, crack, fissure, untruth
Readings
On'yomi
- キョ
- コ
Kun'yomi
- むな.しい
- うつ.ろ
Meaning
虚 centers on the absence of substance: a void, emptiness, or hollowness. This extends naturally to cracks and fissures as empty spaces, unpreparedness as a lack of readiness, and untruth as a statement empty of reality.
Most common words using 虚
20 of 97- 虚しいむなしいN1
empty; void; vacant
- 虚偽きょぎ
falsehood; untruth; lie; misinformation
- 謙虚けんきょN2
modest; humble
- 虚うろ
hollow; cavity; hole
- 虚きょ
unpreparedness
- 虚無きょむN1
nihility; nothingness
- 虚構きょこうN1
fiction; fabrication; concoction
- 空虚くうきょN1
emptiness; hollowness; vacancy; void
- 虚言きょげん
falsehood; lie
- 虚ろうつろN1
cavity; hollow; void
- 虚栄きょえい
vanity; vainglory
- 虚空こくう
empty space; empty sky
- 虚弱きょじゃく
feebleness; weakness; imbecility
- 虚像きょぞう
virtual image
- 虚勢きょせい
bluff; false show of power; bold front
- 虚数きょすう
imaginary number
- 虚飾きょしょく
ostentation; show; affectation
- 虚脱きょだつ
lethargy; despondency; mental numbness
- 虚けうつけ
absentmindedness; dreaminess; carelessness
- 虚実きょじつ
falsehood and truth; fiction and fact
Study
Etymology
虚 combines 虍 (tiger) with 丘 (hill), suggesting a hollow or empty hill. The modern simplified form replaces 丘 with 业. The character expresses hollowness or emptiness.
Meaning mnemonic
Imagine a tiger's den (虍) that is completely empty (业 looks like a hollowed-out space). The tiger has left, leaving only a void—this is emptiness.
Reading mnemonic
For キョ, picture a key (キョ) unlocking an empty room: the key turns, but the room is void of anything. Key -> キョ, and the emptiness is revealed.