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苦
🇹🇼🇭🇰🇨🇳🇯🇵🇰🇷

suffering

HSK 4 N2
Nature →Plants →Grasses
kǔ
ク
くる.しい、-ぐる.しい、くる.しむ、くる.しめる、にが.い、にが.る
고
Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 古 represents the sound.
Components
艹 grass (top)+ 古 ancient =
苦 suffering
艹 Meaning component
cao grass (top)
grass
艹 is a component form of 艸.
古 Phonetic component
gǔ ancient
old, classic, ancient
View phonetic series →
Notes
Similar Characters
春 springtime甍 rafters supporting roof盖 hide (simp)着 arrive/wear繭 cocoon (trad/jp)艺 art (simp)艻 sweet basil艽 a root艾 Chinese mugwort艿 taro节 knot (simp)芄 Metaplexis stauntoni芊 exuberant and vigorous芋 taro芍 peony芎 a kind of herb芏 Cyperus malaccensis芑 white millet芒 mango芗 fragrant smell of grain (simp)
Historical Evolution
Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)
Seal
Shuowen (~100 AD)
Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)
Clerical
Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)
Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)
Clerical
Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)
Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)
Clerical
Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)
Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)
Clerical
Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)
苦
Regular
Modern
Chinese
苦 [kǔ]
bitter; hardship; pain; to suffer; to bring suffering to; painstakingly
Japanese
苦 く 同音

noun

  1. pain; anguish; suffering; distress; anxiety; worry; trouble; difficulty; hardship
  2. Buddhism duhkha (suffering)
Example Sentences
🇯🇵 (1)
なんの苦もなくその場所を見つけた。
He had no difficulty in finding the place.
CHINESE WORDS (200)
痛苦 [tòng​kǔ] #855
pain
辛苦 [xīn​kǔ] #2,564
exhausting
艰苦 [jiān​kǔ] #7,226
difficult
艰苦 [jiān​kǔ] #7,226
difficult
苦难 [kǔ​nàn] #8,357
suffering
苦难 [kǔ​nàn] #8,357
suffering
苦恼 [kǔ​nǎo] #8,978
vexed
苦恼 [kǔ​nǎo] #8,978
vexed
苦苦 [kǔ​kǔ] #10,709
strenuously
苦笑 [kǔ​xiào] #42,906
to force a smile
190 more items
JAPANESE WORDS (200)
⭐ 苦しい [くるしい] #972
painful
⭐ 苦労 [くろう] #1,210
trouble
⭐ 苦しむ [くるしむ] #1,288
to suffer
⭐ 苦手 [にがて] #1,621
poor (at)
⭐ 苦痛 [くつう] #2,640
pain
⭐ 苦しみ [くるしみ] #2,915
pain
⭐ 苦笑 [くしょう] #3,040
bitter smile
⭐ 苦い [にがい] #4,132
bitter
⭐ 苦笑い [にがわらい] #4,241
bitter smile
⭐ 苦しめる [くるしめる] #4,549
to torment
190 more items
KOREAN WORDS (19)
고통 #3,903
pain
고민 #11,784
worry; anguish
고난 #44,208
hardship; trouble; suffering; difficulty; adversity; trial; ordeal
각고
hard work; difficult labor; backbreaking work
고뇌
anguish; agony
고배
experience of failure
고심
consideration; contemplation; deliberation
고역
toil; drudgery
고진감래
sweetness after bitterness; no pain, no gain
고초
hardship
9 more items