Onyomi: キ · Kunyomi: あぶ.ない, あや.うい, あや.ぶむ · Meanings: dangerous, fear, uneasy
Kanji for dangerous, fear, uneasy
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The kanji 危 comes from a picture of a person standing on the edge of a high place. The upper part resembles a head leaning forward, while the lower part shows a steep cliff or platform. Ancient writers used this shape to capture the feeling of someone leaning out too far, close to falling. This image of being on the brink, where one wrong move can lead to harm, became the symbol for danger and risk.
危 shows a person leaning toward the edge of a cliff — a clear image of being in a risky or dangerous situation. It’s the feeling of standing somewhere unstable where caution is needed.
Imagine someone leaning forward over the edge of a cliff, about to slip — one step too far and it becomes dangerous. That image of “leaning on the edge” is 危.
| Word | Reading | Meaning | Meta |
|---|---|---|---|
| 危 | き | danger | Noun |
| 危険 | きけん | danger, peril, hazard | common JLPT-N4 Noun, Na-adjective (keiyodoshi) |
| 危ない | あぶない | dangerous, risky, hazardous, perilous, precarious | common JLPT-N5 I-adjective (keiyoushi) |
| 危機 | きき | crisis, critical situation, emergency, pinch | common JLPT-N1 Noun |
| 危うい | あやうい | dangerous, in danger, facing imminent danger | common JLPT-N2 I-adjective (keiyoushi) |
| 危害 | きがい | injury, harm, danger | common JLPT-N1 Noun |
| 危ぶむ | あやぶむ | to fear, to doubt, to have misgivings about, to worry about, to be anxious about, to be apprehensive about | common JLPT-N1 Godan verb with 'mu' ending, Transitive verb |
| 危うく | あやうく | barely, narrowly | common Adverb (fukushi) |
| 危惧 | きぐ | apprehension, misgivings, uneasiness, fear, anxiety | common Noun, Suru verb, Transitive verb |
| 危篤 | きとく | critical condition, being on the verge of death | common Noun, Noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no' |