sigh, lament, moan, grieve
Also: sigh of admiration
On'yomi (音読み)
- タン
Kun'yomi (訓読み)
- なげ.く
- なげ.かわしい
About this kanji
The kanji "嘆" primarily conveys feelings of sorrow or admiration, and it is often used as a verb. It can be pronounced as "なげく" when used in verb form, meaning to lament or sigh. A common noun is "嘆き" (なげき), which means grief. Another noun is "感嘆" (かんたん), expressing the feeling of admiration. Additionally, "嘆願" (たんがん) refers to an entreaty or plea. Usage note: While this kanji often associates with negative emotions, it can also express a sense of awe or admiration in certain contexts.
Example sentences
彼は嘆きながら窓を見ていた。
He was gazing out the window while lamenting.
Meanings across languages
- English
- sigh, lament, moan, grieve, sigh of admiration
- Tiếng Việt
- thở dài
- 日本語
- 嘆く
- 한국어
- 탄식하다
- 中文
- 叹息
- id
- desahan, ratapan
- th
- ถอนหายใจ, คร่ำครวญ
- es
- suspiro, lamento
- fr
- soupir, lamentation
- de
- Seufzer, Klage
- pt
- suspiro, lamento
Common compounds
- 感嘆かんたんadmiration, wonder, astonishment
- 嘆きなげきgrief, lamentation
- 嘆くなげくto lament, to grieve, to regret
- 嘆願たんがんentreaty, appeal, petition
- 驚嘆きょうたんwonder, admiration, being struck with admiration
- 嘆息たんそくsigh (of grief, disappointment, etc.), grieving, lamenting
- 悲嘆ひたんgrief, sorrow, anguish
- 嘆かわしいなげかわしいlamentable, deplorable, regrettable
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.