音読み: ソウ
訓読み: かわく
画数: 17
部首: 火（ひへん）
Meaning
dry up / parch / desiccate
- 乾燥 — dryness; aridity; dehydration
- 高燥 — high and dry place
- 焦燥 — impatience; restlessness
燥 pairs the heat of 火 (ひへん) with action, giving the sense of “drying through energy or exposure.” It covers physical dryness (乾燥) and the edgy, fidgety mood in 焦燥.
操 (to operate, control) uses the hand radical 扌 and the phonetic element that reads ソウ. 燥 swaps the hand for fire (火) but keeps that ソウ sound.
Instinct tip: 手で操れば動きを“コントロール”、火で燥せば水分を“コントロール”。 Same sound, different tool — hand vs. heat — both about applying energy to get a result.
Creates
乾燥 — dryness / to dry out completely.