Advanced words with easy kanji (a list)

I enjoy finding words like this. Words that are advanced (N2, N1, or beyond) that use kanji that even beginners on WK have learned (level 10 or lower), and obviously they aren’t words taught on WK.

These are easy to neglect because you don’t learn them early on, but then can be frustrating to encounter because it feels like you should know them.

The frequency ranking on the right comes from this list of the top 15000 words in Japanese.

I bolded some of my favorites.

I know there are anki decks with this kind of thing, but I thought people might be interested in just browsing some here too.

If I made any mistakes (particularly in the readings), let me know.

一部 (いちぶ) - one part, one section, some, one copy (of a document) (#672)
一方 (いっぽう) - on one hand, one direction, the other way (#677)
立場 (たちば) - standpoint, position, situation (#843)
分野 (ぶんや) - field, branch, realm (#971) (this actually is a level 12 kanji and an N3 word, but it’s so common and not on WK, I wanted to include it)
相当 (そうとう) - befitting, in keeping with, considerably (#1034)
一言 (ひとこと) - a few words, a brief comment (#1828)
一定 (いってい) - fixed, settled, standardized (#1858)
一切 (いっさい) - all, everything, absolutely not (when used with negative) (#2278)
中身 (なかみ) - contents, interior (#2450)
国立 (こくりつ) national (in the sense of 市立 for municipal) (#2469)
入手 (にゅうしゅ) - acquisition, obtaining (#2642)
目立つ (めだつ) - to stand out, to be conspicuous (#2678)
大手 (おおて) - big company, major company (#2957)
正当 (せいとう) - just, legitimate, lawful (#3021)
同一 (どういつ) - identical, equal, fair, without discrimination (#3391)
成り立つ (なりたつ) - to consist of, to be made of, to be practical, to hold true (#3535)
公正 (こうせい) - justice, fairness (#3556)
一見 (いっけん) - a glance (#3917)
手元 (てもと) - at hand, nearby (#4095)
手当 (てあて) - pay, salary, medical treatment (usu. 手当て), advance preparation (usu. 手当て) (#4250)
先行 (せんこう) - preceding, going first, taking priority (#4504)
手間 (てま) - time, labor (#4673)
上下 (じょうげ, うえした) - up and down, top and bottom (#4999)
手前 (てまえ) - this side, in front of (#5081)
少子化 (しょうしか) - declining birthrate (#5319)
有力 (ゆうりょく) - influential, prominent (#5425)
弟子 (でし) - student, pupil, apprentice (#5491)
正月 (しょうがつ) - New Year, January (#5587)
世界一 (せかいいち) - best in the world (#5786)
先物 (さきもの) - futures (in trading) (#5814)
分子 (ぶんし) - molecule, member (of a list), numerator (#5846)
中立 (ちゅうりつ) neutrality (#5892)
正体 (しょうたい) - one’s true colors, consciousness (#6225)
子会社 (こがいしゃ) - subsidiary (#6322)
大正 (たいしょう) - the Taisho era (#6444)
長女 (ちょうじょ) - eldest daughter (#6829)
一行 (いちぎょう) - line, party, troupe (#6973)
気力 (きりょく) - will power, vitality (#7187)
立体 (りったい) - solid body, three-dimensional object, multi-story parking garage (#7236)
手がける (てがける) - to handle, to deal with, to look after (#7486)
組み立てる (くみたてる) - to assemble, to set up, to construct (#7621)
金子 (きんす) - funds, money (#7646)
両立 (りょうりつ) - compatibility, standing together, coexistence (#7760)
立ち止まる (たちどまる) - to stop, to halt, to stand still (#7775)
立地 (りっち) - site, location (#7839)
手入れ (ていれ) - repairs, maintenance (#8152)
一口 (ひとくち) - mouthful, bite-sized, one word (#8210)
重力 (じゅうりょく) - gravity, gravitational pull (#8463)
自力 (じりき) - by oneself, self-made (#8715)
主力 (しゅりょく) - main force, chief object (#8756)
土木 (どぼく) - civil engineering, public works (#8768)
先立つ (さきだつ) - to take the lead in, to precede, to die before (parents, spouse, etc) (#8872)
力学 (りきがく) - mechanics (as in the branch of physics) (#8890)
手足 (てあし) - hands and feet, limbs (#9146)
万が一 (まんがいち) - if by any chance, in the worst case (#9228)
先方 (せんぽう) - companion, other party, destination, person in front (#9434)
先発 (せんぱつ) - starting in advance, going first, starting (in sports) (#9557)
一向 (いっこう) - completely, totally (#9884)
申立 (もうしたて) - statement, declaration, allegation (#9952)
切り口 (きりくち) - cut end, different perspective, new approach (#10012)
手のひら (てのひら) - palm of one’s hand (#10291)
手口 (てぐち) - modus operandi, criminal technique, trick (#10385)
一大 (いちだい) - one large something, a great something (#10609)
一国 (いっこく) - whole country, hot-headed (#10780)
一文 (いちぶん, いちもん) - one sentence (ぶん reading), something insignificant (もん reading) (#10904)
目先 (めさき) - near future, under one’s nose (#10925)
連立 (れんりつ) alliance, coalition (#11440)
火力 (かりょく) - heating power, firepower (military) (#11446)
風力 (ふうりょく) - wind power (#12565)
大口 (おおぐち) - big mouth, boastful speech, large sum (#13615)
口語 (こうご) - spoken language, colloquialism (#13698)
次女 (じじょ) - second daughter (#13840)
手話 (しゅわ) - sign language (#14421)
文語 (ぶんご) - written language, literary language (unlisted)

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Ooh, I really like this one a lot.
Thanks for sharing this interesting list, Leebo! : D

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I don’t bookmark often, but when I do…

Thanks for the list Leebo.

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手のひら is taught in WaniKani as 掌, although I think of it as 手の平.

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Yeah, that is a way to write it, though 手のひら is a top 15000 item and 掌 isn’t.

Aha! 手元(てもと)like on some disposable chopsticks wrappers! Now I know what it means.

I also like 同一, one of the few words I’ve seen where the 一 is second in the compound.

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Yeah, that’s unusual. I won’t add it to this list because 単 is level 15 on WK, but 単一 (simple) is common too. And I’ll add 万が一 in a minute.

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I'm surprised to see that I actually know quite a few of these

一部 (いちぶ)
一方 (いっぽう)
立場 (たちば)
分野 (ぶんや)
一言 (ひとこと)
一定 (いってい)
中身 (なかみ)
目立つ (めだつ)
手元 (てもと)
弟子 (でし)
正月 (しょうがつ)
世界一 (せかいいち)
長女 (ちょうじょ)
一行 (いちぎょう)
気力 (きりょく)
組み立てる (くみたてる)
立ち止まる (たちどまる)
手入れ (ていれ)
一口 (ひとくち)
重力 (じゅうりょく)
手足 (てあし)
一大 (いちだい)
一文 (いちぶん, いちもん)
目先 (めさき)
火力 (かりょく)
次女 (じじょ)
手話 (しゅわ)
文語 (ぶんご)

I imagine this one is particularly useful in public discourse in Japan…

BTW, is 同一 the one you might hear in the phrase “どいつもこいつも”? I just realised I’m not sure how that might be written…

That would be 何奴も此奴も

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Well, that’s different for sure. Thanks!

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Thank you for putting this together, Leebo. I will definitely use this. #bookmarked

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Stumbled upon this guy:
強化 (きょうか) = strengthen, intensify, reinforce

I’m gonna have to make an Anki deck with these, haha. Thank you! :slight_smile:

Edit: Found another, haha.
使用 (しよう) = use, application, employment

When combined with 人 you get 使用人 (しようにん) which is employee.
使用者 (しようしゃ) is user, consumer

Edit #2 I blame Duolingo for how I keep finding more:
所有 (しょゆう) = one’s possession, ownership

When combined with 者 (しゃ) at the end, you get owner.

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