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

• 苦海无边(苦海無邊) a limitless sea of suffering
• 精苦 to strive diligently
• 苦境 grievance; dire straits
• 苦中作乐(苦中作樂) finding joy despite suffering; to enjoy in spite of hardship
• 苦肉计(苦肉計) the trick of injuring oneself to gain the enemy's confidence
• 苦茶 bitter tea
• 苦难(苦難) suffering
• 孤苦无依(孤苦無依) lonely, poor, and without anybody to depend upon
• 苦不唧 slightly bitter
• 良苦用心 to ponder earnestly; to give a lot of thought to sth
• 诉苦(訴苦) to grumble; to complain; grievance
• 苦寒 bitter cold
• 苦干(苦幹) to work hard
• 苦尽甘来(苦盡甘來) bitterness finishes, sweetness begins
• 苦荬菜(苦蕒菜) Ixeris denticulata
• 苦活 bitter work; sweated labor
• 苦练(苦練) to train hard; to practice diligently; hard work; blood, sweat, and tears
• 苦日子 hard times
• 忧苦(憂苦) to be worried and suffering
• 叫苦不迭 to complain without stopping; to bitch endlessly; incessant grievances
• 酸甜苦辣 sour, sweet, bitter and spicy hot; the joys and sorrows of life
• 倒悬之苦(倒懸之苦) the pain of being hanged upside down; extremely critical situation; dire straits
• 吃苦 to suffer a hardship ; to be able to tolerate hardship
• 秘鲁苦蘵(秘魯苦蘵) Peruvian ground-cherry; cape gooseberry; Physalis peruviana
• 苦心孤诣(苦心孤詣) to make painstaking efforts; after much trouble; to work hard at sth
• 苦命 bitter fate
• 苦胆(苦膽) gall bladder
• 苦竹 bitter bamboo
• 苦杏仁苷 amygdalin
• 装穷叫苦(裝窮叫苦) to feign and complain bitterly of being poverty stricken
• 劳心苦思(勞心苦思) to rack one's brains
• 苦艾酒 absinthe (distilled anise-based liquor)
• 茹苦含辛 bitter hardship; to bear one's cross
• 捱苦 to endure difficulties
• 贫苦(貧苦) poverty-stricken; poor
• 冥思苦索 to mull over ; to think long and hard
• 苦瓜 bitter melon
• 痛苦 pain; suffering
• 困苦 distressed; miserable
• 自苦 self inflicted
• 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
• 苦苣 endive
• 凄苦(悽苦) bleak; miserable
• 苦思 to think hard; bitter thoughts; to pour out one's sufferings
• 苦主 victim's family
• 挖苦 to speak sarcastically; to make cutting remarks
• 千辛万苦(千辛萬苦) to suffer untold hardships; trials and tribulations; with difficulty; after some effort
• 苦心经营(苦心經營) to build up an enterprise through painstaking efforts
• 变苦(變苦) to sour; to turn sour; to curdle
• 苦瓜脸(苦瓜臉) sour expression on one's face

Also contained in

苦菜花

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 Scroll 20 Wenxuan 文選 — count: 13
• 卷二十四 Scroll 24 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
• 味苦 (味苦) 其味苦 — The Book of Rites 禮記, 《月令》 Proceedings of Government in the Different Months — count: 5
• 功苦 (功苦) 辨功苦 — Guanzi 管子, 立政第四 Chapter 4: Establishing Governance — 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
• 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