Meaning & readings

pointed, sharpness, edge, weapon, sharp, violent

On’yomi エイ
Kun’yomi するど.い
Nanori とし

Origin

The left component, , means metal and acts as a classifier telling you this kanji relates to metal objects or tools. The right component, 兌, serves as a sound hint indicating roughly how the character is pronounced — it doesn't contribute meaning on its own. Together, the character describes the quality of metal that has been worked into a sharp point or edge, capturing the idea of sharpness and the cutting force of a weapon. The pairing of "metal" with the sound element 兌 created a character perfectly suited to mean pointed or sharp.

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

15 strokes

Components

  • radical left
  • 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

  • 鋭い するどい sharp (knife, claws, etc.); pointed
  • 鋭角 えいかく acute angle
  • 鋭敏 えいびん sharp (eyes, ears, etc.); keen
  • 鋭利 えいり sharp; keen
  • 新鋭 しんえい young and energetic; up-and-coming
  • 精鋭 せいえい elite; best
  • 気鋭 きえい spirited; energetic
  • 最新鋭 さいしんえい state-of-the-art; cutting-edge

Reference

Strokes
15
Kangxi radical
167
Grade
Jōyō (secondary school)
Frequency rank
#1395 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 2
Unicode
U+092ED