毀 means “damage, break, slander”

き · ki

Also: destroy, censure, be chipped

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

こぼつ, こわす, こぼれる, こわれる, そしる

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

キ

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 13 strokes

The story

A mortar (臼) beside 殳, a hand swinging a club: pottery smashed to bits. 毀 is damage, and damage done with words: 名誉毀損, defamation, is a news staple, and 毀誉褒貶 is the mix of praise and blame every public figure gets.

Used in 毀損 (kison, damage), 名誉毀損 (meiyokison, defamation), and 毀誉褒貶 (kiyohouhen, praise and censure)

More from Crumble & Ruin

• 潰 crush
• 綻 come apart
• 壊 break
• 崩 crumble
• 削 shave
• 裂 tear
• 陥 fall into
• 滅 perish
• 腐 rot
• 砕 smash
• 朽 decay

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

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