怪

JŌYŌ KANJI · Secondary school

suspicious

suspicious · mystery · apparition

8 strokesRadical 61U+602A
01

Readings

Official Jōyō readings in table order

On’yomi 音読み

カイ

Kun’yomi 訓読み

あやしいあやしむ

Additional readings in the learning dataset

On’yomi

ケ

Kun’yomi

None listed in this source.

These are outside the official Jōyō list above. A listed reading is not necessarily common in modern use.

02

Origin and meaning

Verified against the direct official KanjiPedia naritachi entry.

Earlier sense recorded in the sourcesuspicious; historical origin verified from KanjiPedia naritachi
Meanings in the learning dataset todaysuspicious · mystery · apparition

Read the source entry ↗

03

Written form

No parenthesized form is given in the official Jōyō index for this character.

Dictionary radical心こころ · heart / mind
Stroke count8May vary for alternate forms.
UnicodeU+602AModern character encoding, not an origin date.

Compare manuscript and printed examples in the HNG historical glyph archive ↗. Where available, its dated samples document written forms; they do not establish the first use of this character in Japan.

04

Examples in the official table

  • 怪談,怪物,奇怪
  • 怪しい,怪しげだ
  • 怪しむ

Official notes

  • ⇔妖しい
05

When did it enter Japanese?

Chinese characters reached Japan through a long process of contact. Early inscribed objects and sixth-century Japanese names are documented; this is context for the writing system, not a first date for 怪.

怪 appears in the current Jōyō kanji table published on 30 November 2010. This records modern standard status, not the date the character was first used in Japan.

A dated first Japanese use for 怪 has not been verified in the sources attached to this entry.

Agency for Cultural Affairs: writing history ↗ · 2010 Jōyō notice ↗

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