薄い
うすい · usui · JLPT N5 · i-adj
thin
📄 usui sounds like you-sway: thin paper sways in any breeze
薄い (usui) means thin, and by extension weak or pale: thin paper, weak tea, light flavour. The kanji 薄 has the grass radical 艹 on top: grass blades are thin and flimsy. Opposite: 厚い (atsui), thick.
薄 — grass radical 艹 + 溥 (pǔ, phonetic)
薄 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The grass radical 艹 on top hints at the original meaning — thin, sparse vegetation or undergrowth. The lower part 溥 supplies the sound. From 'sparse plants' the meaning broadened to 'thin', 'slight', or 'meager' in general use.