敏 — “Cleverness / Agile / Alert” in Japanese

Master (高手)びん, さとい

Radical ⽁ · radical 66 The building block this kanji is filed under

“Cleverness / Agile / Alert” in Japanese is 敏, read bin, satoi (びん, さとい). 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 敏感 (sensitive).

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What does 敏 mean?

Full details, readings & example

Kanji	敏
Meaning	Cleverness / Agile / Alert
Readings	びん, さとい
Grade	Master (高手 · secondary school)
Curriculum	Jōyō kanji · Japanese secondary school (JLPT N1–N2)
Example	敏感 (sensitive)

How to read 敏

敏 is read bin (びん) or satoi (さとい) depending on the word.

Words with 敏

俊敏
敏感

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Kanji read the same way as 敏

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

Updated: 2026-08-28