偽 means “fake, false”

にせ · nise

Also: falsehood, lie, deceive, pretend

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

いつわる, にせ, いつわり

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

ギ, カ

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 11 strokes

The story

A person (亻) beside 為, to do: someone doing something just for show. 偽 is the fake: 偽物 is a knockoff, 偽札 a counterfeit bill, and 偽装 is passing one thing off as another, the word in every food-labeling scandal.

Used in 偽物 (nisemono, fake/knockoff), 偽造 (gizou, forgery), and 偽装 (gisou, disguise/falsification)

More from Thieves & Swindlers

• 唆 suggest
• 賄 bribe
• 謀 plot
• 虐 cruelty
• 拐 kidnap
• 詐 fraud
• 欺 deceive
• 殴 hit
• 窃 steal
• 賊 bandit
• 賂 bribe
• 拉 abduct

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

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