朗 means “clear, bright, cheerful”

ろう · rou

Also: melodious, serene

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

ほがらか, あきらか

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

ロウ

JLPT N1 · Taught in grade 6 · 10 strokes

The story

A good (良) moon (月): bright, clear and serene. 朗らか is sunny and cheerful, 朗報 is good news, and 朗読 is reading aloud in a clear voice, like an actor reading a novel for radio.

Used in 朗読 (roudoku, reading aloud), 朗報 (rouhou, good news), and 朗らか (hogaraka, cheerful)

More from Poems & Songs

• 謡 song
• 琴 koto
• 墨 ink
• 譜 musical score
• 叙 narrate
• 吟 chant
• 詠 compose (a poem)
• 唄 song
• 韻 rhyme
• 喩 metaphor
• 彙 collection
• 楷 standard script

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

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