also: もくぐう · ぼくぐう
wooden doll; wooden figure
Refers to a carved wooden doll or figure, often used in traditional contexts. The reading でく is most common; もくぐう and ぼくぐう are rare literary/technical readings.
This wooden doll was made by a craftsman in the Edo period.
Only with reading でく
Used for a puppet, especially a traditional wooden puppet. Restricted to the reading でく.
blockhead; good-for-nothing; fool
Only with reading でく
Figurative use, often in the phrase 木偶の坊 (でくのぼう), meaning a useless person or blockhead. Restricted to the reading でく.
See also: でくの坊
He tells a story by manipulating a puppet.
That guy is really a blockhead.
I don't want to become a good-for-nothing who can't do anything.
Standard kanji spelling for the common reading でく. The reading でく is a gikun/jukujikun for this kanji compound.
Alternate on'yomi reading, rare and mostly literary or technical.
Alternate on'yomi reading, rare and mostly literary or technical.
Kana spelling is common in everyday writing, especially for the figurative 'blockhead' sense.
The kanji 木 (tree/wood) and 偶 (puppet/idol) combine to mean 'wooden doll'. The reading でく is a jukujikun (special kanji reading) likely derived from 出 (で) + 来 (く) or related to でく (a wooden doll). The exact derivation is uncertain.