Emaki · all 1,500 words

恐怖

きょうふ

fear

Mnemonic

The heart goes first and the body follows, locked solid where it stands. Kyo きょう, foo ふ, and not nerves: the kind that stops you moving at all: きょうふ.

Worth knowing

怖い こわい is the everyday scared. 恐怖 is the noun, terror, and 恐ろしい おそろしい is the adjective for whatever is causing it.

Built from

fear
心 a heart at the bottom with a pair of hands gripping something above it. The grip is the fear.
afraid, frightening
忄 heart + 布 cloth

Words sharing these kanji

terrible, frightening probably (usually negative), I'm afraid ... to fear, to apprehend fearful, being afraid, fearsome

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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.