Skip to content
Kotomora

邪

wicked, injustice, wrong

JLPTN1StatusJōyō · secondary schoolFrequencyTop 2,000Strokes8

Readings

On'yomi

  • ジャ

Kun'yomi

  • よこし.ま

Meaning

邪 centers on moral crookedness: something wicked, unjust, or fundamentally wrong. The meanings all point to a departure from what is right or fair.

Most common words using 邪

20 of 81
  • 邪魔じゃま
    N4

    hindrance; obstacle; nuisance; disturbance; interruption; interference

  • 風邪かぜ
    N5

    (common) cold; influenza; flu; ague; inflammatory respiratory system illness (in general)

  • 邪悪じゃあく

    wicked; evil

  • 邪よこしま

    wicked; evil; wrong; bad

  • 無邪気むじゃき
    N2

    innocent; simple-minded

  • 邪神じゃしん

    evil god

  • 邪道じゃどう

    improper way (of doing); wrong way; unorthodox method

  • お邪魔おじゃま

    hindrance; intrusion

  • 邪気じゃき

    malice; ill will

  • 邪険じゃけん

    cruel; hard-hearted; harsh; unkind

  • 天邪鬼あまのじゃく

    perversity; perverse person; contrary person; contrarian

  • 邪馬台国やまたいこく

    Yamataikoku; historical Japanese state thought to have existed during the late Yayoi period

  • 邪教じゃきょう

    heretical religion; damaging religion; heresy

  • 邪推じゃすい

    distrust; unjust suspicion

  • 邪念じゃねん

    wicked thought; wicked mind

  • 邪心じゃしん

    wicked heart; evil design

  • 風邪ひきかぜひき

    catching a cold; person with a cold

  • 正邪せいじゃ

    right and wrong; right or wrong

  • 邪淫じゃいん

    lewdness

  • 破邪はじゃ

    crushing evil; destroying heresy

Explore all words using 邪 →

Study

Etymology

邪 combines 牙 (fang, tusk) with ⻏ (a variant of 邑, meaning settlement or place). The exact historical development is uncertain, but the combination likely expressed a sense of something twisted or morally crooked, possibly through the image of a fang-like deviation from the norm.

Meaning mnemonic

Picture a fang (牙) growing crookedly out of a village (⻏) — a twisted, wicked thing that corrupts the straight order of the settlement.

Reading mnemonic

For ジャ, imagine a wicked judge (ジャッジ, jajji) in the village, handing down unjust rulings: judge -> ジャ, and the crooked fang represents the injustice.