鮮 means “vivid, fresh”

あざやか · azayaka

Also: clear, brilliant

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

あざやか

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

セン

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 17 strokes

The story

Fish (魚) beside sheep (羊): picture both laid out at the market so fresh the colors still gleam. 鮮やか is vivid, 新鮮 is fresh, and a supermarket's 生鮮食品 are the fish, meat and produce that spoil fast.

Used in 鮮やか (azayaka, vivid), 新鮮 (shinsen, fresh), and 鮮明 (senmei, clear/sharp)

More from Shades & Dyes

• 染 dye
• 彩 color
• 丹 red
• 玄 dark
• 淡 pale
• 朱 vermilion
• 紺 navy blue
• 藍 indigo
• 斑 spot
• 褐 brown
• 瑠 lapis lazuli
• 璃 lapis lazuli

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

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