溺 means “drown, indulge”

おぼれる · oboreru

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

いばり, おぼれる

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

デキ, ジョウ, ニョウ

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 13 strokes

The story

Water (氵) beside weak (弱): too weak to swim, going under. 溺れる is to drown, and also to drown in something: 溺愛 is doting love, and 溺れる者は藁をもつかむ, a drowning man clutches at straws.

Used in 溺れる (oboreru, to drown), 溺愛 (dekiai, doting love), and 溺死 (dekishi, death by drowning)

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• 澄 become clear
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Learn 溺 and more kanji free on Fuji Learning · All kanji

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