# 厄 — bad luck; unlucky year

厄 means “bad luck; unlucky year”. It is a JLPT N1 kanji written with 4 strokes. On'yomi: ヤク (yaku). It has no common kun'yomi. You'll see it in words such as 厄 (yaku, “misfortune; bad luck”).

- Meaning: bad luck; unlucky year
- On'yomi: ヤク (yaku)
- Kun'yomi: —
- Strokes: 4
- Level: JLPT N1 · set Qualities 8

## How to remember 厄

Parts: 厂 cliff · 卩 kneeling person

## Words with 厄

| Word | Reading | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 厄 | やく (yaku) | misfortune; bad luck |

## Don't confuse it with

[危](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/dangerous/)

## More in the “Qualities 8” set

[庸](https://moji.ninja/n1-kanji/average/) · [醜](https://moji.ninja/n1-kanji/ugly/) · [厄](https://moji.ninja/n1-kanji/bad-luck/) · [艶](https://moji.ninja/n1-kanji/gloss/) · [凄](https://moji.ninja/n1-kanji/amazing/) · [旺](https://moji.ninja/n1-kanji/flourishing/) · [緻](https://moji.ninja/n1-kanji/precise/) · [勃](https://moji.ninja/n1-kanji/break-out-suddenly/)

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From Moji Ninja (https://moji.ninja/), a free app for learning hiragana, katakana and the JLPT kanji from N5 to N1 with spaced repetition. Page: https://moji.ninja/n1-kanji/bad-luck/. Last updated 2026-11-01.