弄 — “Play With / Tamper / Trifle With” in Japanese

Master (高手)ろう, る, いじく, いじ, ひねく, たわむ, もてあそ

Radical ⼶ · radical 55 The building block this kanji is filed under

“Play With / Tamper / Trifle With” in Japanese is 弄, read rou, ru, ijiku (ろう, る, いじく, いじ, ひねく, たわむ, もてあそ). It is a Jōyō kanji taught in Japanese secondary school (junior & senior high) — the 高手 · Master tier beyond the grade 1–6 Kyōiku set, and appears in words such as 翻弄 (toying with / trifling).

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What does 弄 mean?

Full details, readings & example

Kanji	弄
Meaning	Play With / Tamper / Trifle With
Readings	ろう, る, いじく, いじ, ひねく, たわむ, もてあそ
Grade	Master (高手 · secondary school)
Curriculum	Jōyō kanji · Japanese secondary school (JLPT N1–N2)
Example	翻弄 (toying with / trifling)

How to read 弄

弄 is read rou (ろう) or ru (る) or ijiku (いじく) or iji (いじ) or hineku (ひねく) or tawamu (たわむ) or moteaso (もてあそ) depending on the word.

Words with 弄

翻弄

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Kanji read the same way as 弄

Same sound, different character — the classic trap. Compare them side by side:

Updated: 2026-08-28