善 — kanji meaning “virtuous”
善
virtuous, good, goodness
- Meanings
- virtuous, good, goodness
- On'yomi
- ゼン (zen)
- Kun'yomi
- よ.い、い.い、よ.く、よし.とする
- Name readings
- たる、よし
- Strokes
- 12
- School grade
- 6
- JLPT (old scale)
- Level 2
- Newspaper frequency
- #765 of 2,500
- Classical radical
- 30
- Chinese reading
- shàn — Chinese character page
Words with 善
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 改善 | かいぜん kaizen | betterment; improvement |
| 善意 | ぜんい zen'i | virtuous mind |
| 親善 | しんぜん shinzen | friendship; goodwill; friendly relations |
| 慈善 | じぜん jizen | charity; benevolence; philanthropy |
| 善良 | ぜんりょう zenryou | good (person, nature, etc.); good-natured; virtuous |
| 最善 | さいぜん saizen | the very best; utmost |
| 善悪 | ぜんあく zen'aku | right and wrong; good and evil |
| 偽善 | ぎぜん gizen | hypocrisy |
| 善人 | ぜんにん zennin | good person; virtuous person |
| 独善 | どくぜん dokuzen | self-righteousness; self-justified |
| 勧善懲悪 | かんぜんちょうあく kanzenchouaku | rewarding good and punishing evil; poetic justice |
| 善戦 | ぜんせん zensen | fighting a good fight; putting up a good fight; fighting bravely |
Data: KANJIDIC2 (CC BY-SA 4.0); KanjiVG (CC BY-SA 3.0); JMdict (CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.