薄 means “thin, faint”

うすい · usui

Also: dilute, weak (tea), pampas grass

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

うすい, うす-, うすめる, うすまる, うすらぐ

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

ハク

JLPT N4 · Taught in secondary school · 16 strokes

The story

Grass (艹) on a cliff with water flowing through (溥): vegetation so thin it barely covers the ground. 薄い (usui) captures delicate thinness: 薄氷 (hakuhyou, thin ice) is walking a precarious edge. In tea ceremony, 薄茶 (usucha, thin tea) is the lighter, frothier preparation served to guests, delicate but essential.

Used in 薄い (usui, thin/faint), 薄茶 (usucha, thin matcha tea), and 薄暗い (usugurai, dim)

Example sentences

• 薄いシャツを着ています。 I am wearing a thin shirt.
• 薄暗い部屋で本を読みました。 I read a book in a dimly lit room.

More from Measurement & Size

• 低 low
• 遅 slow
• 量 quantity
• 測 measure
• 少 few
• 倍 double
• 満 full
• 大 big
• 小 small
• 短 short
• 広 wide
• 狭 narrow

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