Emaki · all 1,500 words

偉い

えらい

great, famous

Mnemonic

A person standing clear of the row so that everybody has to look up at them. A scholar, and a known one, and rather airy えらい about it: えらい.

Worth knowing

Also said to children for behaving well, and used dryly at adults. 素晴らしい すばらしい admires a thing and 有名 ゆうめい is famous as in widely known. 偉い admires a person, and the two do not always go together.

Built from

great, admirable
亻 a person on the left who stands clear of the row. Great in the sense of somebody worth looking up at.

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Emaki is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, Kaishi 1.5k or its authors. The word, reading and meaning come from the Kaishi 1.5k deck, used with their permission. The mnemonic, the note and the kanji breakdown are original work, published under CC BY-SA 4.0.