音読み: コ
訓読み: ほこる
画数: 13
部首: 言（ごんべん）
Meaning
Boast / Pride / Be Proud.
- 誇る — to boast; to be proud
- 誇り — pride
- 誇張 — exaggeration; hyperbole
- 誇示 — flaunting; ostentation
- 誇大 — exaggerated; overblown
- 誇大広告 — exaggerated advertising
- 誇り高い — proud; dignified
誇 combines the radical 言 “speech” with the phonetic element 夸, which carries the sense of extravagance. The image is “extravagant speech,” and from this comes the meaning “to boast, to show pride.” Depending on usage, 誇 can be positive, like national pride, or negative, like showing off.
Think of 誇 as speech that takes on the flavor of 夸 — a touch showy or overblown. Words become puffed up, bigger than they really are. That’s why 誇 carries the sense of boasting, exaggeration, or pride.
Forms
誇張 — exaggeration; to overstate