# 勢 power

(termite pie) + 丸 (round) + 力 (strong)
★★☆☆☆
13 strokes

## Onyomi

SEI |

## Mnemonic

| They SAY that if you eat a round termite pie you'll get strong powers.

## Kunyomi

いきお*い | most dictionaries/books/apps define this as POWER but it's more like momentum, (a power which is in motion). The power to influence something - like "The car had a lot of 勢い so it was hard to stop the car before we hit the cat." or "Because of the whiskey's 勢い, I could do a table dance in the White House." Also means to gain steam or lose steam - said of political momentum or the momentum of a trend or ideology. ★★☆☆☆

## Jukugo

姿勢(しせい) | ｐｏｓｔｕｒｅ ★★★☆☆ 姿 (someone's shape, body, form) + 勢 (power) = 姿勢 (ｐｏｓｔｕｒｅ) ｐｏｓｔｕｒｅ　－　 posture, both literal and figurative. Unlike the related word 態度（たいど） one's 姿勢 is always intentional - something one consciously adopts.
大勢(おおぜい) | crowd ☆☆☆☆☆ 大 (big) + 勢 (power) = 大勢 (crowd) a large number of people - not in the sense of 'It's crowded today' but like 'There were crowds waiting to greet the Ambassador' - the crowd is united in its purpose.

## Synonyms

behavior/ action 態度 姿勢 行動 行為
power, authority 勢い 力 権力 威力 政権 権利 権威
surpass 優勢 優秀な 秀でる