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

• 苦行者 an ascetic
• 苦功 hard work; laborious effort; painstaking work
• 苦劳(苦勞) toil; hard work
• 穷思苦想(窮思苦想) to think hard ; to give something much thought
• 访贫问苦(訪貧問苦) to visit the poor and ask about their suffering
• 苦寒 bitter cold
• 痛苦 pain; suffering
• 命苦 to be born under an ill star
• 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
• 苦衷 secret trouble; sorrow; difficulties
• 冥思苦索 to mull over ; to think long and hard
• 苦事 hard job; arduous task
• 艰苦朴素(艱苦樸素) leading a plain, hardworking life
• 苦心 painstaking effort; to take a lot of trouble; laborious at pains
• 愁眉苦脸(愁眉苦臉) to look anxious; to look miserable
• 刻苦耐劳(刻苦耐勞) to bear hardships and work hard; assiduous and long-suffering; hard-working and capable of overcoming adversity
• 勤奋刻苦(勤奮刻苦) diligent; assiduous
• 苦厄 suffering
• 苦难(苦難) suffering
• 苦根 underlying cause of poverty
• 苦苓 chinaberry (Melia azedarach)
• 苦难深重(苦難深重) deep grief; extensive sorrow
• 苦头(苦頭) suffering
• 苦艾 wormwood; Artemisia absinthium
• 苦活儿(苦活兒) hard work
• 煞费苦心(煞費苦心) to make a painstaking effort
• 诉苦(訴苦) to grumble; to complain; grievance
• 穷苦(窮苦) impoverished
• 叫苦连天(叫苦連天) to whine on for days; to endlessly grumble complaints; incessant whining
• 苦涩(苦澀) bitter and astringent; pained; agonized
• 苦修 to practice ascetism
• 凄风苦雨(淒風苦雨) bleak wind and icy rain; hardships; miserable circumstances
• 苦肉计(苦肉計) the trick of injuring oneself to gain the enemy's confidence
• 苦役 forced labor; corvée; penal servitude
• 苦窑(苦窯) prison
• 秘鲁苦蘵(秘魯苦蘵) Peruvian ground-cherry; cape gooseberry; Physalis peruviana
• 倒悬之苦(倒懸之苦) the pain of being hanged upside down; extremely critical situation; dire straits
• 孤苦无依(孤苦無依) lonely, poor, and without anybody to depend upon
• 刻苦 hardworking; assiduous ; to live economically
• 忆苦思甜(憶苦思甜) to view one's past as miserable and one's present as happy
• 苦心经营(苦心經營) to build up an enterprise through painstaking efforts
• 苦哈哈 to have difficulty getting by; to struggle (financially etc)
• 苦境 grievance; dire straits
• 红脚苦恶鸟(紅腳苦惡鳥) brown crake (Amaurornis akool)
• 苦恼(苦惱) distress; vexation
• 含辛茹苦 to suffer every possible torment; bitter hardship; to bear one's cross
• 苦思 to think hard; bitter thoughts; to pour out one's sufferings
• 勤学苦练(勤學苦練) to study diligently; to train assiduously
• 吃苦耐劳(吃苦耐勞) hardworking and enduring hardships

Also contained in

艰苦

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 Scroll 20 Wenxuan 文選 — count: 13
• 卷三十 Scroll 30 Wenxuan 文選 — count: 13
• 卷二十四 Scroll 24 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
• 卷六十 Scroll 60 Wenxuan 文選 — count: 12
• 卷十八 Scroll 18 Wenxuan 文選 — 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
• 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
• 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
• 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
• 苦节 (苦節) 苦節不可貞 — Book of Changes 易經, 節 Jie — count: 4
• 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
• 苦窳 (苦窳) 東夷之陶者器苦窳 — Han Feizi 韓非子, 難一第三十六 Chapter 36: Difficulties I — 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