優 means “gentle, kind”

やさ · yasa

Also: tenderness, excel, surpass, actor

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

やさしい, すぐれる, まさる

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

ユウ, ウ

Taught in grade 6 · 17 strokes

The story

A person carries grief with grace: true gentleness is born from understanding sorrow and choosing softness anyway.

Used in 優しい (yasashii, kind/gentle) and 優勝 (yuushou, championship)

More from Feelings & Emotions

• 思 think
• 感 feel
• 懐 nostalgic
• 悲 sad
• 怒 anger
• 泣 cry
• 笑 laugh
• 好 like
• 痛 pain
• 幸 happiness
• 恋 romantic love
• 希 hope

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

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