starve, hungry, thirst
On'yomi (音読み)
- ガ
Kun'yomi (訓読み)
- う.える
About this kanji
The kanji 「餓」 primarily means to starve or refer to a state of hunger. It is often used as a noun, but it can also appear in verbs. One common compound is 飢餓 (きが), which means starvation and conveys a serious lack of food. Another important compound is 餓死 (がし), meaning death from starvation. You might also come across 餓鬼 (がき), which refers humorously to a brat, often implying someone who is insatiable. An interesting usage note is that while 餓 can conjure images of intense hunger or distress, it can also have more playful uses in everyday speech.
Example sentences
飢餓の問題が深刻です。
The issue of hunger is serious.
Meanings across languages
- English
- starve, hungry, thirst
- Tiếng Việt
- đói, khát
- 日本語
- 飢える, 空腹
- 한국어
- 굶주리다, 배고프다, 갈증나다
- 中文
- 饥饿, 饥渴
- id
- kelaparan, lapar, haus
- th
- อดอยาก, หิว, กระหายน้ำ
- es
- morir de hambre, hambriento, sediento
- fr
- mourir de faim, affamé, soif
- de
- verhungern, hungrig, durstig
- pt
- morrer de fome, faminto, sede
Common compounds
- 飢餓きがstarvation, famine, hunger
- 餓死がし(death from) starvation, starving to death
- 餓鬼がきbrat, kid, urchin
- 餓狼がろうhungry wolf
- 餓虎がこstarving tiger
- 餓莩がひょうstarvation, (bodies of) the starved
- 餓鬼道がきどうhungry ghost (preta) realm
- 施餓鬼せがきservice for the benefit of suffering spirits
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