# 薄 — pale; thin

薄 means “pale; thin”. It is a JLPT N2 kanji written with 16 strokes. On'yomi: ハク (haku). Kun'yomi: うす(い) (usui), すすき (susuki). You'll see it in words such as 薄い (usui, “thin”).

- Meaning: pale; thin
- On'yomi: ハク (haku)
- Kun'yomi: うす(い) (usui), すすき (susuki)
- Strokes: 16
- Level: JLPT N2 · set Qualities 3

## How to remember 薄

Parts: 艹 grass · 氵 water · 甫 plot of seedlings · 専 exclusive

## Words with 薄

| Word | Reading | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 薄い | うすい (usui) | thin |
| 薄める | うすめる (usumeru) | to dilute; to water down |
| 薄まる | うすまる (usumaru) | to become weak |

## Don't confuse it with

[簿](https://moji.ninja/n1-kanji/ledger/)

## More in the “Qualities 3” set

[雑](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/miscellaneous/) · [欠](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/lack/) · [汚](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/dirty/) · [栄](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/flourish/) · [似](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/resemble/) · [簡](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/brief/) · [薄](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/pale/)

---

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/n2-kanji/pale/. Last updated 2026-11-01.