不 means “not, un-”

ふ · fu

Also: negative, non-, bad, ugly

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

フ, ブ

JLPT N4 · Taught in grade 4 · 4 strokes

The story

A bird beating its wings against the sky and never reaching it: the ancient picture of "not possible." Prefix 不 to anything and it sours: 便利 convenient becomes 不便, 安 ease becomes 不安, unease.

Used in 不便 (fuben, inconvenient), 不安 (fuan, anxiety), and 不思議 (fushigi, mysterious)

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

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