軟 means “soft, pliable”

なん · nan

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

やわらか, やわらかい

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

ナン

JLPT N2 · Taught in secondary school · 11 strokes

The story

A cart (車) beside 欠, a wide-open yawn: picture a cart sagging on soft springs. 軟 is soft and giving: 柔軟 is flexible, and 軟骨, soft bone, is cartilage, which izakaya fry until crunchy as 軟骨の唐揚げ.

Used in 柔軟 (juunan, flexible), 軟骨 (nankotsu, cartilage), and 軟式 (nanshiki, played with a soft rubber ball)

More from Hard & Soft

• 鋭 sharp
• 鈍 dull
• 清 pure
• 固 harden
• 豊 abundant
• 巨 giant
• 荒 rough
• 硬 hard
• 柔 soft

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