嘆 means “lament, sigh”

なげく · nageku

Also: moan, grieve

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

なげく, なげかわしい

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

タン

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 13 strokes

The story

A mouth (口) beside the left half of 難, hardship: picture a long sigh over troubles. 嘆く is to lament, 嘆かわしい is deplorable, yet 嘆 also sighs in wonder: 感嘆 is admiration, and 感嘆符 is the exclamation mark.

Used in 嘆く (nageku, to lament), 感嘆 (kantan, admiration), and 悲嘆 (hitan, grief)

More from Joy & Sorrow

• 憂 anxiety
• 惜 a pity
• 憾 regret
• 哀 sorrow
• 悦 joy
• 慨 deep emotion
• 愉 pleasure
• 煩 bother
• 慕 adore
• 愁 melancholy
• 憧 long for
• 爽 refreshing

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

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