苦 kǔ

1. kǔ noun bitterness; bitter flavor
   Domain: Modern Chinese 现代汉语 , Subdomain: Food and Drink , Concept: Flavor 味道
   Notes: One of the 五味 'five flavors', the opposite of 甜 'sweetness' (Guoyu '苦' n 1)
2. kǔ noun hardship; suffering
   Domain: Modern Chinese 现代汉语
   Notes: For example, the idiom 苦中作乐 'to enjoy in spite of hardship' (Guoyu '苦' n 2; Unihan '苦')
3. kǔ verb to make things difficult for
   Domain: Literary Chinese 文言文
   Notes: In the sense of 受累 or 为难 (Guoyu '苦' v 1)
4. kǔ verb to train; to practice
   Domain: Literary Chinese 文言文
   Notes: In the sense of 磨鍊 (Guoyu '苦' v 2)
5. kǔ verb to suffer from a misfortune
   Domain: Literary Chinese 文言文
   Notes: In the sense of 患 (Guoyu '苦' v 3)
6. kǔ adjective bitter
   Domain: Modern Chinese 现代汉语 , Subdomain: Food and Drink
   Notes: (Guoyu '苦' adj 1; Unihan '苦')
7. kǔ adjective grieved; facing hardship
   Domain: Literary Chinese 文言文
   Notes: In the sense of 艰辛; for example, 苦日子 'hard times' (Guoyu '苦' adj 2)
8. kǔ adjective in low spirits; depressed
   Domain: Literary Chinese 文言文
   Notes: In the sense of 愁闷; for example, 愁眉苦脸 'to look anxious' (Guoyu '苦' adj 3)
9. kǔ adverb assiduously; to do one's best; to strive as much as possible
   Domain: Literary Chinese 文言文
   Notes: In the sense of 尽力 (Guoyu '苦' adv; Han Dian '苦' adj 7)
10. kǔ adjective painful
    Domain: Literary Chinese 文言文
    Notes: In the sense of 痛 (Han Dian '苦' adj 4)

Contained in

• 悭吝苦克(慳吝苦剋) hardworking and frugal
• 苦涩(苦澀) bitter and astringent; pained; agonized
• 苦干(苦幹) to work hard
• 苦不唧儿(苦不唧兒) slightly bitter
• 孤苦无依(孤苦無依) lonely, poor, and without anybody to depend upon
• 苦衷 secret trouble; sorrow; difficulties
• 蹲苦窑(蹲苦窯) to be behind bars
• 倒悬之苦(倒懸之苦) the pain of being hanged upside down; extremely critical situation; dire straits
• 苦艾 wormwood; Artemisia absinthium
• 秘鲁苦蘵(秘魯苦蘵) Peruvian ground-cherry; cape gooseberry; Physalis peruviana
• 苦差 hard task; difficult mission
• 氯化苦 chloropicrin
• 装穷叫苦(裝窮叫苦) to feign and complain bitterly of being poverty stricken
• 苦迭打 coup d'état
• 苦难(苦難) suffering
• 凄风苦雨(淒風苦雨) bleak wind and icy rain; hardships; miserable circumstances
• 茹苦含辛 bitter hardship; to bear one's cross
• 苦口 a bitter taste ; persistent nagging
• 坚苦(堅苦) determined even in the face of suffering
• 哑巴吃黄连，有苦说不出(啞巴吃黃連，有苦說不出) to be forced to suffer in silence; unable to speak of one's bitter suffering
• 苦差事 hard task; difficult mission
• 痛苦 pain; suffering
• 凄苦(悽苦) bleak; miserable
• 访贫问苦(訪貧問苦) to visit the poor and ask about their suffering
• 苦竹 bitter bamboo
• 家贫命苦(家貧命苦) a poor family and a life of bad luck
• 愁眉苦脸(愁眉苦臉) to look anxious; to look miserable
• 苦尽甘来(苦盡甘來) bitterness finishes, sweetness begins
• 吃苦头(吃苦頭) to suffer; to suffer for one's actions; to pay dearly; to burn one's fingers
• 苦待 to treat harshly
• 叫苦 to whine about hardships; to complain of one's bitter lot; to complain; to grumble
• 苦艾酒 absinthe (distilled anise-based liquor)
• 良药苦口(良藥苦口) good medicine tastes bitter; frank criticism is hard to swallow
• 同甘共苦 shared delights and common hardships; to share life's joys and sorrows; for better or for worse
• 苦楝 chinaberry
• 自苦 self inflicted
• 苦海无边(苦海無邊) a limitless sea of suffering
• 冥思苦索 to mull over ; to think long and hard
• 离苦得乐(離苦得樂) to abandon suffering and obtain happiness
• 白胸苦恶鸟(白胸苦惡鳥) white-breasted waterhen (Amaurornis phoenicurus)
• 捱苦 to endure difficulties
• 苦味 bitter taste; bitterness ; a bitter taste; bitterness
• 刻苦 hardworking; assiduous ; to live economically
• 小洞不补大洞吃苦(小洞不補大洞吃苦) A small hole not plugged will make you suffer a big hole; a stitch in time saves nine
• 命苦 to be born under an ill star
• 苦瓜脸(苦瓜臉) sour expression on one's face
• 艰苦朴素(艱苦樸素) leading a plain, hardworking life
• 苦海无边，回头是岸(苦海無邊，回頭是岸) The sea of bitterness has no bounds, turn your head to see the shore . Only Buddhist enlightenment can allow one to shed off the abyss of worldly suffering.
• 皮肉之苦 physical pain; lit. skin and flesh suffer
• 苦因 affliction

Also contained in

文化苦旅

Word is mentioned most frequently in

Truncated for common words

• 卷二十八 Scroll 28 Wenxuan 文選 — count: 18
• 卷六十七 列傳第二十七 謝靈運 Volume 67 Biographies 27: Xie Lingyun Book of Song 宋書 — count: 16
• 卷二十四 Scroll 24 Wenxuan 文選 — count: 13
• 卷三十 Scroll 30 Wenxuan 文選 — count: 13
• 卷二十 Scroll 20 Wenxuan 文選 — count: 13
• 卷三百三十 列傳第二百十八 西域二 Volume 330 Biographies 218: Western Regions 2 History of Ming 明史 — count: 12
• 卷十八 Scroll 18 Wenxuan 文選 — count: 12
• 卷六十 Scroll 60 Wenxuan 文選 — count: 12
• 卷二十一 志第十一 樂三 Volume 21 Treatises 11: Music 3 Book of Song 宋書 — count: 12
• Scroll 3 Xin Shu 新書 — count: 11

Collocations

• 民苦 (民苦) 故民苦於外 — Mozi 墨子, 卷一 七患 Book 1 - The Seven Worries — count: 6
• 苦雨 (苦雨) 秋無苦雨 — The Commentary of Zuo on the Spring and Autumn Annals 春秋左氏傳, 昭公 Lord Zhao — count: 5
• 功苦 (功苦) 辨功苦 — Guanzi 管子, 立政第四 Chapter 4: Establishing Governance — count: 5
• 味苦 (味苦) 其味苦 — The Book of Rites 禮記, 《月令》 Proceedings of Government in the Different Months — count: 5
• 苦叶 (苦葉) 匏有苦葉 — The Book of Songs 詩經, 國風‧邶‧匏有苦葉 Lessons from the states - Odes of Bei - Pao You Ku Ye — count: 5
• 苦节 (苦節) 苦節不可貞 — Book of Changes 易經, 節 Jie — count: 4
• 苦痛 (苦痛) 私自苦痛 — Huainanzi 淮南子, 卷十二　道應訓 Chapter 12: Responses of the Way — count: 4
• 用力苦 (用力苦) 用力苦則勞 — Guanzi 管子, 版法第七 Chapter 7: Ban Fa — count: 3
• 苦身 (苦身) 苦身勞形 — Huainanzi 淮南子, 卷十九　脩務訓 Chapter 19: Cultivation of Effort — count: 3
• 苦成 (苦成) 衛侯饗苦成叔 — The Commentary of Zuo on the Spring and Autumn Annals 春秋左氏傳, 成公 Lord Cheng — count: 3