awake, be disillusioned, sober up
On'yomi (音読み)
- セイ
Kun'yomi (訓読み)
- さ.ます
- さ.める
About this kanji
The kanji 「醒」 primarily means to be awake or to sober up from a state of sleep or intoxication. It is typically used as a verb, with its kun'yomi readings of さ.ます (to wake someone up) and さ.める (to wake up or regain sobriety). Some common compounds include 覚醒剤 (かくせいざい), which refers to stimulants like certain drugs; 覚醒 (かくせい), meaning the act of waking up; and 警醒 (けいせい), which means a warning or alert. A note on usage is that while this kanji is often associated with literal waking, it can also imply a figurative awakening, like an epiphany or realization.
Example sentences
彼女は急に醒めた表情をした。
She suddenly had a waking expression.
Meanings across languages
- English
- awake, be disillusioned, sober up
- Tiếng Việt
- tỉnh
- 日本語
- 醒
- 한국어
- 깨다
- 中文
- 醒
- id
- terjaga, menyadari, sadar
- th
- ตื่น, รู้ตัว, คืนสติ
- es
- despertado, desilusionado, despertarse
- fr
- éveillé, désillusionné, sobre
- de
- wach, desillusioniert, nüchtern
- pt
- acordado, desiludido, sóbrio
Common compounds
- 覚醒剤stimulant (e.g. psychoactive drugs like methamphetamine, ritalin, etc.)
- 覚醒waking up, awakening, arousal
- 警醒warning
- 醒覚awakening, waking up, opening one's eyes
- 大覚醒Great Awakening (18th century American Christian revival movement)
- 過覚醒hyperarousal (symptom of PTSD)
- 半睡半醒half asleep and half awake
- 半醒半睡half awake and half asleep
Words using this kanji
Want to actually learn this kanji?
The dictionary is one view. The Kanji 360 app wraps every character with mnemonic images, audio readings, stroke-order animation, story context, and SRS scheduling — free to start on iPhone, iPad, and Android.