Meaning & readings

regret, bear a grudge, resentment, malice, hatred

On’yomi コン
Kun’yomi うら.む、うら.めしい

Origin

This character combines a heart radical on the left, which marks it as a feeling or emotion, with a sound-hint component on the right that suggests the pronunciation "kon." The heart element makes sense for emotions like regret and resentment—feelings that arise in the chest and mind. Together, the two parts create a character that expresses the bitter, persistent feeling of bearing a grudge or wishing something had gone differently.

恨 9 strokes

Components

  • 忄 radical left
  • 艮 sound hint right

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

Common words

  • 遺恨 いこん grudge; ill will
  • 恨み うらみ resentment; grudge
  • 恨む うらむ to bear a grudge against; to resent
  • 痛恨 つうこん deep regret; great sorrow

Reference

Strokes
9
Kangxi radical
61
Formation type
Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint)
Grade
Jōyō (secondary school)
Frequency rank
#1877 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 1
Unicode
U+06068