怖 means “scary, afraid”

こわ · kowa

Also: dreadful, be frightened, fearful

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

こわい, こわがる, おじる, おそれる

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

フ, ホ

Taught in secondary school · 8 strokes

The story

The heart wraps itself in cloth for protection: fear is the instinct that makes us shield what matters most.

Used in 怖い (kowai, scary) and 恐怖 (kyoufu, terror)

More from Feelings & Emotions

• 恥 shame
• 驚 surprise
• 寂 lonely
• 優 gentle
• 思 think
• 感 feel
• 懐 nostalgic
• 悲 sad
• 怒 anger
• 泣 cry
• 笑 laugh
• 好 like

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

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