The kanji 細: meaning, readings and stroke order

細

Meaning: thin, tiny
On reading: サイ sai
Kun reading: ほそ（い） hosoi、ほそ（る） hosoru、こま（か） komaka、こま（かい） komakai
Strokes: 11
Radical: 糸 silk
Level: Level 2 · grade 2

Stroke order

Meaning in other languages

Vietnamese: mảnh, nhỏ (tế)
Japanese: ほそい。こまかい。
Korean: 가늘다, 잘다 (세)
Chinese: 细、细小 (细)

Readings, words and example sentences

サイ sai · on reading · less common

細さい工く
fine handwork, crafts
竹で 細さい工くをします。
People make fine crafts out of bamboo.

ほそ（い） hosoi · kun reading

細ほそい
thin
細ほそい 糸でぬいます。
I sew with a thin thread.

ほそ（る） hosoru · kun reading · less common

細ほそる
get thinner, get narrower
川がだんだん 細ほそります。
The river gets narrower and narrower.

こま（か） komaka · kun reading

細こまか
small, fine
細こまかな字で書いてあります。
It is written in tiny letters.

こま（かい） komakai · kun reading

細こまかい
tiny, fine
細こまかい 雨がふっています。
A fine rain is falling.

Practise writing 細 in the app

In Dino Kids your child writes 細 with a finger and every stroke is checked, then takes the Level 2 practice test. Free, no ads, no in-app purchases.

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Readings, radicals: Kanjium, KANJIDIC2 (CC BY-SA 4.0); strokes: KanjiVG (CC BY-SA 3.0); Korean, simplified forms: Unicode Unihan. Meanings, sentences: Dino Kids (CC0). See Licences.