高 kanji: meaning, readings and stroke order

高

高 means “high, expensive”. It is written with 10 strokes and is a JLPT N5 kanji.

On’yomi: コウ (kou). Kun’yomi: たか.い (takai).

How to write 高 (stroke order)

Write 高 in 10 strokes, following the numbers. Each small box adds one stroke; the red line is the stroke to draw.

12345678910
  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10

General rules: top before bottom, left before right, horizontal before a vertical that crosses it, and a closing bottom stroke last. Writing in the right order makes handwriting readable and helps you count strokes when you look a kanji up.

Practice writing 高

Trace 高 over the faint model with your finger or mouse, following the stroke order above. Turn the model off to write it from memory.

Readings of 高

On’yomi (Chinese reading)コウ (kou)
Kun’yomi (Japanese reading)たか.い (takai)

The on’yomi is usually used in compound words, the kun’yomi when 高 stands alone or is followed by hiragana. A dot (.) marks where the hiragana ending starts.

Example words with 高

WordReadingMeaning
たかい
takai
high, expensive
こうこう
koukou
high school

高い (takai) means “high, expensive”.

高校 (koukou) means “high school”. Also in this word: 校

FAQ

What does 高 mean in Japanese?

高 means “high, expensive”. Common words with it are 高い (takai, “high, expensive”) and 高校 (koukou, “high school”).

How many strokes does 高 have?

高 has 10 strokes. Follow the stroke-order diagram on this page from stroke 1 to 10.

How do you read 高?

The on’yomi is コウ (kou) and the kun’yomi is たか.い (takai). Which one is used depends on the word.

Is 高 on the JLPT N5?

Yes. 高 is kanji number 41 of the 101 N5 kanji on this site.

Related N5 kanji

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