Translingual

Han character

嘘 (radical 30 口+11, 14 strokes, cangjie input 口卜心金 (RYPC), composition ⿰口虚)

1. exhale
2. blow out
3. deep sigh
4. hiss
5. praise

References

• KangXi: page 206, character 10
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 1, page 675, character 12
• Unihan data for U+5618

Chinese

Japanese

Kanji

(uncommon “Hyōgai” kanji)

1. lie; falsehood

Readings

• Goon: こ (ko)
• Kan’on: きょ (kyo)
• Kun: うそ (uso), はく (haku), ふく (fuku)

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• (Tokyo) う​そ [úꜜsò] (Atamadaka - [1])
• IPA^(key): [ɯᵝso̞]
• Homophones: 鷽, 獺

Noun

嘘 ‎(hiragana うそ, romaji uso)

1. a lie, a falsehood; something incorrect

Interjection

嘘 ‎(hiragana うそ, romaji uso)

1. (slang) really?; no way!; unbelievable!

Usage notes

• In Japanese, saying that something like uso is less inflammatory than calling something a lie in English; it is used similar to "No way!" or "Really!" "Yeah, Right!"

Derived terms

• 嘘 (うそ)つき ‎(usotsuki, “a liar”)
• 大 (おお)嘘 (うそ) ‎(ōuso, “a big lie”)