Meaning
Rain turns a dirt path into 泥 within minutes — the wet, sticky, dark earth found near rivers, rice paddies, and anywhere water pools long enough to saturate the ground. Beyond the physical substance, 泥 carries a second quality: the clinging, inescapable nature of mud that stains everything it touches and refuses to let go. In modern Japanese, the character works both literally and figuratively, extending to situations that are murky, entangled, or impossible to exit cleanly — like a quagmire.
Structurally, 泥 combines two components. On the left stands the radical 氵 (sanzui, the three-dot water radical), immediately marking the character as water-related. On the right sits 尼 (the character for Buddhist nun), which functions here as a phonetic component, lending the on'yomi reading dei. Together they suggest earth thoroughly saturated with water. Visually, the fluid dots of 氵 pressing against the compact, grounded form of 尼 convey something simultaneously wet and dense — neither liquid nor solid.
泥 is written with 8 strokes and belongs to the Grade 8 Jōyō kanji set, meaning Japanese students typically encounter it in middle or high school rather than primary school. At the JLPT N2 level, it appears in disaster reporting (mudflows, floods), everyday conversation about messy conditions, and idioms that stretch the mud metaphor into social and moral territory. The radical 氵 is among the most common in the Jōyō list — spot it in an unfamiliar kanji and you know water is involved.
Readings
On'yomi (音読み) — Chinese-derived readings
The on'yomi デイ (dei) appears mainly in formal, literary, or technical compound words (熟語, jukugo). In casual speech it is much rarer than the kun'yomi どろ. It surfaces in environmental terminology for geological sludge, in disaster reporting for mudflows, and in the vivid idiom for being so drunk one has effectively sunk into the mud.
- 泥酔 (deisui) — dead drunk, completely intoxicated; the image is of someone so inebriated they sink into mud and cannot stand.
- 泥流 (deiryū) — mudflow, lahar; a dangerous rapid current of mud, often caused by volcanic activity or intense rainfall.
- 泥炭 (deitan) — peat; ancient organic matter compressed over centuries in wet, boggy terrain.
- 汚泥 (odei) — sewage sludge, contaminated mud; a term common in environmental engineering and water treatment.
- 泥土 (deido) — mud and earth; saturated, soft soil; used in more formal or literary descriptions.
Kun'yomi (訓読み) — Native Japanese readings
The primary kun'yomi is どろ (doro) — the everyday spoken word for mud, used constantly in conversation and compounds. A secondary kun'yomi, なず・む (nazumu), means to be bogged down or unable to make progress. It functions metaphorically: forward movement blocked, like feet sinking deeper into heavy mud with every step.
- 泥 (doro) — mud; the word itself used standalone.
- 泥棒 (dorobō) — thief, burglar; the single most common compound using 泥, known by virtually every Japanese speaker.
- 泥沼 (doronuma) — muddy swamp; figuratively, a quagmire or inescapable messy situation.
- 泥水 (doromizu) — muddy water; murky, contaminated water.
- 泥道 (doromichi) — muddy road or path; a route made difficult by mud.
Common Words & Compounds
泥 spreads across everyday speech, environmental reporting, and idiom. The compounds below cover the full range — from the utterly familiar to the occasionally poetic.
Theft and wrongdoing:
- 泥棒 (dorobō) — thief, burglar; the most well-known 泥 compound, used constantly in everyday speech and media.
- 泥縄 (doronawa) — doing things too late, last-minute crisis management (idiom: "making a rope after the thief has already come"); used to criticize reactive rather than proactive behavior.
- 泥仕合 (dorojiai) — mudslinging, a messy dispute where both parties end up looking bad; often used in political contexts.
Nature and physical mud:
- 泥沼 (doronuma) — muddy swamp, bog; metaphorically a quagmire or entanglement.
- 泥水 (doromizu) — muddy water, murky water.
- 泥道 (doromichi) — muddy road, unpaved path after rain.
- 泥流 (deiryū) — mudflow, volcanic mudslide.
- 泥炭 (deitan) — peat, bog carbon.
States and figurative use:
- 泥酔 (deisui) — dead drunk, heavily intoxicated.
- 泥臭い (dorokusai) — smelling of mud; by extension, unsophisticated, rustic, rough around the edges, or lacking polish.
- 雲泥の差 (undei no sa) — a vast difference, a world apart (idiom: "the difference between clouds and mud"); used to emphasize an enormous gap in quality, skill, or status.
- 汚泥 (odei) — sewage sludge, polluted mud; common in environmental discussions.
Example Sentences
子供たちは泥で遊んでいた。
Kodomotachi wa doro de asonde ita.
The children were playing in the mud.
泥棒が昨夜この店に入りました。
Dorobō ga sakuya kono mise ni hairimashita.
A thief broke into this store last night.
大雨の後、道は泥だらけになった。
Ōame no ato, michi wa doro darake ni natta.
After the heavy rain, the road became completely covered in mud.
あの政治家は泥酔した状態で演説した。
Ano seijika wa deisui shita jōtai de enzetsu shita.
That politician gave a speech while completely drunk.
この交渉は泥沼にはまってしまった。
Kono kōshō wa doronuma ni hamatte shimatta.
These negotiations have become completely bogged down in a quagmire.
ふたりの実力には雲泥の差がある。
Futari no jitsuryoku ni wa undei no sa ga aru.
There is a world of difference in the ability between the two of them.
靴に泥がついているので、入る前に払ってください。
Kutsu ni doro ga tsuite iru node, hairu mae ni haratte kudasai.
There is mud on your shoes, so please brush it off before coming inside.
洪水によって泥流が村を飲み込んだ。
Kōzui ni yotte deiryū ga mura wo nomikonda.
A mudflow triggered by the flood swallowed the village whole.
あの会社の対応はいつも泥縄で、問題が起きてから初めて動く。
Ano kaisha no taiō wa itsumo doronawa de, mondai ga okite kara hajimete ugoku.
That company always acts too late — they only start moving after a problem has already occurred.
Memory Tip
Picture a Buddhist nun (尼) who has slipped and fallen into a muddy pond. The three water droplets on the left (氵) are the splash as she lands. The 尼 on the right is her figure, struggling to pull free. The harder she tries, the deeper she sinks — exactly the figurative meaning captured by 泥沼 (quagmire). To lock in the reading, pair this image with 泥棒 (dorobō, thief): picture a mud-caked burglar creeping through a flooded garden, leaving dark footprints across the doorstep. Mud as substance. Mud as trap. Both meanings, one character.