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Traditional
Pīnyīn
English Definition Add a new word to the dictionary Simplified
HSK
charactercopystroke orderAIpronouncebaikeskritterexampleCorrect
  *苦* | 苦* | *苦
bitter / hardship / pain / to suffer / to bring suffering to / painstakingly
HSK 4
painstakingly / with great trouble
amygdalin
to spare no effort
to suffer / to suffer for one's actions / to pay dearly / to burn one's fingers
to look anxious (idiom) / to look miserable
HSK 7-9
to work hard
to suffer hardship
HSK 7-9
hardworking and enduring hardships (idiom)
earnest and well-meaning advice (idiom); to persuade patiently
to bring trouble on oneself
to suffer every possible torment (idiom); bitter hardship / to bear one's cross
to suffer untold hardships (idiom); trials and tribulations / with difficulty / after some effort
suffering
HSK 7-9
bitter work / hard toil / (loanword) coolie, unskilled Chinese laborer in colonial times
HSK 7-9
to entreat piteously / to implore
deprivation / distressed / miserable
poverty-stricken / poor
good medicine tastes bitter (idiom); fig. frank criticism is hard to swallow
hard job / arduous task
why bother? / is it worth the trouble?
HSK 7-9
to pour out one's grievances
one cannot achieve glory and wealth without having been through trials and tribulations (proverb) / no pain, no gain
to make nothing of hardships
to whine on for days (idiom) / to endlessly grumble complaints / incessant whining
deep grief / extensive sorrow
lit. sea of bitterness / abyss of worldly suffering (Buddhist term) / depths of misery
good times and hardships / joys and tribulations / for better or for worse
physical pain / lit. skin and flesh suffer
to toil / hard work
lit. bitter fruit / fig. painful consequence
secret trouble / sorrow / difficulties
hardworking / assiduous
HSK 7-9
hard lot / bitter fate / unfortunate
to endure (years of suffering)
to study diligently
difficult / hard / arduous
HSK 5
shared delights and common hardships (idiom); to share life's joys and sorrows / for better or for worse
A small hole not plugged will make you suffer a big hole (idiom); a stitch in time saves nine
the Four Noble Truths (Budd.), namely: all life is suffering , the cause of suffering is desire , emancipation comes only by eliminating passions 滅|灭, the way to emancipation is the Eight-fold Noble Way 八正道 / also called 四諦|四谛
strenuously / persistently / hard / painful
ascetic monk
to complain without stopping (idiom); to bitch endlessly / incessant grievances
to find joy in sorrows (idiom); to enjoy sth in spite of one's suffering
hard labor (in penal code) / coolie
bitter melon (bitter gourd, balsam pear, balsam apple, leprosy gourd, bitter cucumber)
to bury oneself in work (idiom); to be engrossed in work / to make an all-out effort / up to the neck in work
liquorice (Sophora flavescens), with roots used in TCM
to ponder earnestly / to give a lot of thought to sth
impoverished / destitute
(idiom) great bitterness and deep hatred; deeply ingrained long-standing resentment
absinthe (distilled anise-based liquor)
bitter struggle / hard battle / arduous effort
to consider from all angles (idiom); to think hard / to rack one's brains
persisting despite trials and tribulations (idiom); conspicuous determination
to train hard / to practice diligently / hard work / blood, sweat, and tears
HSK 7-9
destitute but honest / poor and simple / spartan / austere
painstaking effort / to take a lot of trouble / laborious at pains
HSK 7-9
wretched state / miserable plight
bitterness finishes, sweetness begins (idiom); the hard times are over, the good times just beginning
cutleaf ground-cherry / Physalis angulata
to rack one's brains / to think hard
to ponder earnestly / to give a lot of thought to sth
affliction
hardworking / assiduous
leading a plain, hardworking life (idiom)
to speak sarcastically / to make cutting remarks / also pr. [wa1 ku5]
HSK 7-9
to take a lot of trouble (idiom); painstaking / at the cost of a lot of effort
anxiety / distress
lit. the pain of being hanged upside down (idiom); fig. extremely critical situation / dire straits
to be born under an ill star
lit. bleak wind and icy rain (idiom) / fig. hardships; miserable circumstances
to build up an enterprise through painstaking efforts
lit. sour, sweet, bitter and spicy (idiom) / fig. all kinds of flavors; the joys and sorrows of life
HSK 5
to share joys and sorrows / sharing good times and hard times / same as 同甘共苦
to treat (sb) unjustly / anguish caused by an injustice
forced labor / corvée / penal servitude
endive
excruciating
to grumble / to complain / grievance
HSK 7-9
to make painstaking efforts (idiom); after much trouble / to work hard at sth
a blood soaked and hard-fought struggle (idiom)
pains (of illness) / sufferings (esp. in Buddhism)
Heaven will not disappoint the person who tries (idiom). If you try hard, you're bound to succeed eventually.
(old) the family of the victim in a murder case / (Tw, HK) victim (of a crime, misfortune etc) / (Tw) (coll.) person who bears the burden while others benefit
bitter water (e.g. mineral water containing sulfates) / suffering / digestive fluids rising from stomach to the mouth / fig. bitter complaint
suffering / distress
(coll.) miserable; wretched
to whine about hardships / to complain of one's bitter lot / to complain / to grumble
to think hard (idiom) / to give sth much thought
bitter cold
to bear hardships
HSK 7-9
to have bitter digestive fluids rising to the mouth / fig. to complain bitterly / to pour out one's sufferings
(neologism c. 2024) to stubbornly endure hardships that need not be endured; to go out of one's way to make things difficult for oneself
see 苦差
bitter and astringent / pained / agonized
to visit the poor and ask about their suffering (idiom)
unable to bear the pain (idiom)

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