WORD DETAIL
元凶
げんきょう
Examples
Included kanji
Study notes
1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning
- Structure:
元凶, readげんきょう, strongly identifies the chief cause or culprit behind a serious problem. - Basic usage: It can name old wiring as the source of a breakdown or a greedy lord as the cause of conflict in a story.
2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions
- The chief source of a problem
- It strongly identifies the central source of a failure or conflict, such as old wiring or a greedy lord. It carries more blame than neutrally naming one contributing factor.