凶 means “bad luck, evil, violent”

きょう · kyou

Also: villain, disaster

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

キョウ

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 4 strokes

The story

An X (乂) marking a pit (凵): the Shuowen reads it as a trap someone falls into. On an omikuji 凶 is bad luck, and people tie the slip up at the shrine to leave it behind; in crime news a 凶器 is the weapon used.

Used in 凶 (kyou, bad luck), 凶悪 (kyouaku, brutal/heinous), and 凶器 (kyouki, deadly weapon)

More from Rites & Omens

• 宴 banquet
• 賓 honored guest
• 崇 revere
• 禍 calamity
• 厄 misfortune
• 詣 visit a shrine
• 吉 good luck
• 儀 ceremony
• 典 classic
• 賀 congratulations
• 斎 purification
• 犠 sacrifice

Learn 凶 and more kanji free on Fuji Learning · All kanji

Readings from KANJIDIC2, © EDRDG, CC BY-SA.