羞 means “shame, shyness”

しゅう · shuu

Also: feel ashamed

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

はじる, すすめる, はずかしい

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

シュウ

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 11 strokes

The story

A sheep (羊) above 丑, the ox of the zodiac: picture two farm animals pushed onto a stage, too shy to look up. 羞 is shame and shyness: 羞恥心 is a sense of shame, and 含羞, holding shame inside, is a bashful look.

Used in 羞恥心 (shuuchishin, sense of shame) and 含羞 (ganshuu, bashfulness)

More from Fear & Shame

• 焦 fret
• 脅 threaten
• 辱 disgrace
• 慌 panic
• 惧 dread
• 嚇 menace
• 凄 tremendous
• 畏 awe
• 慄 shudder
• 臆 timid
• 虞 risk

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

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