乾 means “dry”

かわ · kawa

Also: drought, desiccate, drink up

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

かわく, かわかす, ほす, ひる, いぬい

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

カン, ケン

Taught in secondary school · 11 strokes

The story

The morning sun evaporates all moisture: 乾く (kawaku) is clothes drying on the line, cracked earth waiting for rain, the dry winter air that chaps your lips.

Used in 乾燥 (kansou, dryness) and 乾杯 (kanpai, cheers/toast)

Words with 乾

• 乾燥 (かんそう, kansou): dryness / dry
• 乾杯 (かんぱい, kanpai): cheers! / toast

More from Weather & Sky

• 湿 humid
• 陽 sunshine
• 影 shadow
• 天 heaven
• 星 star
• 晴 clear weather
• 曇 cloudy
• 降 fall
• 暑 hot (weather)
• 寒 cold (weather)
• 温 warm
• 冷 cold

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

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