荒 means “rough, wild, stormy”

あれる · areru

Also: laid waste, rude

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

あらす, あれる, あらい, すさぶ, すさむ

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

コウ

JLPT N2 · Taught in secondary school · 9 strokes

The story

Grass (艹) over a river (川, squashed flat) where everything has perished (亡): land after the flood. 荒れる is to turn rough: a 荒れた sea is stormy, 肌荒れ is chapped skin, and a forum 荒らし is a troll.

Used in 荒れる (areru, to turn rough/stormy), 荒い (arai, rough/violent), and 荒波 (aranami, raging waves)

More from Hard & Soft

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

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