餓 — “Starve / Hungry / Thirst” in Japanese

Master (高手)が, う

Radical ⾷ · radical 184 The building block this kanji is filed under

“Starve / Hungry / Thirst” in Japanese is 餓, read ga, u (が, う). 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 餓死 (starvation).

Try it now

What does 餓 mean?

Full details, readings & example

Kanji	餓
Meaning	Starve / Hungry / Thirst
Readings	が, う
Grade	Master (高手 · secondary school)
Curriculum	Jōyō kanji · Japanese secondary school (JLPT N1–N2)
Example	餓死 (starvation)

How to read 餓

餓 is read ga (が) or u (う) depending on the word.

Words with 餓

飢餓
餓死

Learn 餓 in real sentences — free

Read stories and news built from only the kanji you already know. KanjiSchool’s path covers all 2,136 Jōyō kanji — 1,018 ready to learn now.

Start free — no credit card →

Updated: 2026-08-28