字 Kanji Decipher

Meaning & readings

negate, no, noes, refuse, decline, deny

On’yomi ヒ
Kun’yomi いな、いや

Origin

The character 否 combines a sound hint with a classifier. The top component 不 (fu/hi) provides a rough pronunciation guide for how the character should be read. The bottom part 口, which normally represents a mouth or opening, acts as a classifier that helps signal the character's semantic category. Together, these components create a character meaning to negate or refuse—essentially the mouth saying "no." The mouth classifier suggests this is about speech or verbal expression, making it fitting for a character about denial and rejection.

AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint).

否 7 strokes

Components

  • 不 sound hint top
  • 口 radical bottom

A sound hint component points at the character’s pronunciation, not its meaning — don’t read a meaning into it.

Common words

  • 否々 いやいや no!; no no!
  • 安否 あんぴ safety; welfare
  • 可否 かひ propriety; right and wrong
  • 拒否 きょひ refusal; rejection
  • 合否 ごうひ success or failure; result
  • 賛否 さんぴ yes and no; for and against
  • 諾否 だくひ consent or refusal; yes or no
  • 否決 ひけつ rejection; negation

Related kanji

Same sound component 不
Same radical

Reference

Strokes
7
Kangxi radical
30
Grade
Grade 6 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#561 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 2
Unicode
U+05426