苦 kǔ
-
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) -
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') -
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) -
kǔ
verb
to train; to practice
Domain: Literary Chinese 文言文
Notes: In the sense of 磨鍊 (Guoyu '苦' v 2) -
kǔ
verb
to suffer from a misfortune
Domain: Literary Chinese 文言文
Notes: In the sense of 患 (Guoyu '苦' v 3) -
kǔ
adjective
bitter
Domain: Modern Chinese 现代汉语 , Subdomain: Food and Drink
Notes: (Guoyu '苦' adj 1; Unihan '苦') -
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) -
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) -
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) -
kǔ
adjective
painful
Domain: Literary Chinese 文言文
Notes: In the sense of 痛 (Han Dian '苦' adj 4)
Contained in
- 苦况(苦況) wretched state; miserable plight
- 秘鲁苦蘵(秘魯苦蘵) Peruvian ground-cherry; cape gooseberry; Physalis peruviana
- 自找苦吃 to bring trouble on oneself
- 苦命 bitter fate
- 苦笑 to force a smile; a bitter laugh
- 苦难(苦難) suffering
- 苦水 bitter water ; digestive fluids rising from stomach to the mouth ; suffering; bitter complaint
- 苦工 hard labor (in penal code); coolie
- 叫苦不迭 to complain without stopping; to bitch endlessly; incessant grievances
- 苦情 wretched situation; plight; wretched; miserable
- 凄风苦雨(淒風苦雨) bleak wind and icy rain; hardships; miserable circumstances
- 含辛茹苦 to suffer every possible torment; bitter hardship; to bear one's cross
- 苦处(苦處) suffering; distress
- 良药苦口(良藥苦口) good medicine tastes bitter; frank criticism is hard to swallow
- 苦差 hard task; difficult mission
- 忆苦饭(憶苦飯) unsavory meal taken in remembrance of past hardships; poor-tasting meal
- 良苦用心 to ponder earnestly; to give a lot of thought to sth
- 疾苦 pain; suffering
- 苦行赎罪(苦行贖罪) penance (to atone for a sin)
- 不辞劳苦(不辭勞苦) to spare no effort
- 用心良苦 to ponder earnestly; to give a lot of thought to sth
- 苦艾 wormwood; Artemisia absinthium
- 苦苓 chinaberry (Melia azedarach)
- 苦功 hard work; laborious effort; painstaking work
- 卖苦力(賣苦力) to make a hard living as unskilled laborer
- 甘苦 good times and hardships; joys and tribulations; for better or for worse
- 不辞辛苦(不辭辛苦) to make nothing of hardships
- 倒悬之苦(倒懸之苦) the pain of being hanged upside down; extremely critical situation; dire straits
- 苦干(苦幹) to work hard
- 苦雨淒风(苦雨淒風) bitter rain and a frigid wind
- 吃苦耐劳(吃苦耐勞) hardworking and enduring hardships
- 装穷叫苦(裝窮叫苦) to feign and complain bitterly of being poverty stricken
- 苦根 underlying cause of poverty
- 红脚苦恶鸟(紅腳苦惡鳥) brown crake (Amaurornis akool)
- 吃苦 to suffer a hardship ; to be able to tolerate hardship
- 冤苦 suffering from injustice
- 苦苦哀求 to entreat piteously; to implore
- 劳苦功高(勞苦功高) arduous toil leading to a great achievment
- 忧苦以终(憂苦以終) worried to death
- 苦不堪言 to suffer unspeakable misery; indescribably painful; hellish
- 苦境 grievance; dire straits
- 良工心苦 expert craft from hard practice; hard-won skill; A masterpiece demands suffering.
- 吃苦头(吃苦頭) to suffer; to suffer for one's actions; to pay dearly; to burn one's fingers
- 刻苦 hardworking; assiduous ; to live economically
- 苦活儿(苦活兒) hard work
- 孤苦无依(孤苦無依) lonely, poor, and without anybody to depend upon
- 苦心孤诣(苦心孤詣) to make painstaking efforts; after much trouble; to work hard at sth
- 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
- 苦劳(苦勞) toil; hard work
- 苦杏仁苷 amygdalin
Also contained in
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
- 卷三十 Scroll 30 Wenxuan 文選 — count: 13
- 卷二十四 Scroll 24 Wenxuan 文選 — count: 13
- 卷二十 Scroll 20 Wenxuan 文選 — count: 13
- 卷二十一 志第十一 樂三 Volume 21 Treatises 11: Music 3 Book of Song 宋書 — count: 12
- 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
- 卷六十 Scroll 60 Wenxuan 文選 — count: 12
- 卷十八 Scroll 18 Wenxuan 文選 — 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
- 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
- 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
- 百姓苦 (百姓苦) 百姓苦之 — The Book of Songs 詩經, 國風‧齊‧盧令 Lessons from the states - Odes of Qi - Lu Ling — 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