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Pīnyīn
English Definition Add a new word to the dictionary Traditional
HSK
difficult / challenging / straitened circumstances / difficult situation
HSK 3
degree of difficulty
HSK 3
don't tell me ... / could it be that...?
HSK 3
hard to avoid / difficult to escape from / will inevitably
HSK 4
to feel embarrassed or awkward / to make things difficult (for someone) / to find things difficult (to do or manage)
HSK 5
to feel sad / to feel unwell / (of life) to be difficult
HSK 2
ugly / unsightly
HSK 2
charactercopystroke orderAIpronouncebaikeskritterexampleCorrect
  *难* | 难* | *难
difficult (to...) / problem / difficulty / difficult / not good
HSK 1
to feel unwell / to suffer pain / to be difficult to bear
HSK 2
hard to (predict, imagine etc)
HSK 5
disaster; catastrophe
HSK 5
unforgettable
HSK 6
difficult problem
HSK 2
seldom / rare / hard to come by
HSK 5
catastrophic
air crash / aviation accident or incident
HSK 7-9
unpleasant to hear / coarse / vulgar / offensive / shameful
HSK 2
difficult / hard / challenging
HSK 5
to be hard on sb; to deliberately make things difficult / Taiwan pr. [diao1nan2]
HSK 7-9
to raise a tough question
HSK 7-9
extremely difficult
lit. easy to dodge the spear in the open, hard to avoid a stab in the dark (idiom); it is hard to guard against secret conspiracies
mining disaster
dilemma / quandary / to face a difficult choice
hard to take / embarrassed
HSK 7-9
difficulty
HSK 7-9
a nobleman's word is his bond (proverb)
every beginning is difficult (idiom) / getting started is always the hardest part
to bother / to press sb, usu. to do sth / it's a tough job / sorry to bother you (polite, used to thank sb for a favor)
can't be bought for one thousand in gold (idiom)
a torment / a trial / tribulation / a cross (to bear) / well-tried
HSK 7-9
to meet with great difficulties but pull through
hard to explain in a few words (idiom); complicated and not easy to express succinctly
easy to grasp but difficult to put into practice (idiom) / easier said than done
to take refuge; to seek asylum
HSK 7-9
to perish / to be killed
HSK 7-9
sufferer / a victim of a calamity / a person in distress
dyslexia
ingrained habits are hard to overcome (idiom); bad old practices die hard
An ounce of gold can't buy you an interval of time (idiom); Money can't buy you time. / Time is precious.
difficulty / crisis
HSK 7-9
extremely rare (idiom) / once in a blue moon
lit. hard to differentiate between elder and younger brother (idiom) / fig. one is just as bad as the other
brothers in hardship (idiom) / fellow sufferers / in the same boat
hard to deal with / hard to get along with
(idiom) to press on in the face of challenges
trouble; difficulty; problem
HSK 7-9
lit. there is nothing the determined person can't accomplish (idiom) / fig. persistence will overcome
(idiom) insatiably greedy
The cleverest housewife cannot cook without rice (idiom); You won't get anywhere without equipment.
perils of the sea
(it's) no wonder (that...) / (it's) not surprising (that)
HSK 7-9
even an honest and upright official will have difficulty resolving a family dispute (proverb)
hard to accomplish / difficult to achieve
The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Eighty-one Difficulties, medical text, c. 1st century AD
to make sth difficult / to create obstacles
(idiom) hard to believe; incredible
HSK 7-9
rarely seen
HSK 7-9
hard to tell (i.e. hard to judge or hard to predict) / cannot bring oneself to say it
HSK 7-9
to force someone to do something
calamity
anxious to help others resolve difficulties (idiom)
hard to endure / unbearable
to go through thick and thin together (idiom)
Heaven cannot tolerate this (idiom) / intolerable behavior
disaster movie
hard to understand / difficult to deal with / knotty / complicated
to debate / to retort / to refute
to run into misfortune
to rise in revolt / to raise difficult questions
national calamity
embarrassed
HSK 7-9
to just escape from calamity
to feel embarrassed / to feel awkward
to be too embarrassed to mention sth (idiom) / to find it hard to speak about sth
difficulty / degree of difficulty or ease
to tackle a difficult job (idiom) / to do sth reluctantly
cannot escape censure (idiom) / has to bear the blame
not to pose a problem for sb / cannot stump sb
the problem is...
suffering
HSK 7-9
Easy to raise an army of one thousand, but hard to find a good general. (idiom)
It is hard to change one's essential nature (idiom). You can't change who you are. / Can the leopard change his spots? (Jeremiah 13:23)
to profiteer in a time of national calamity
(of pain or hardship) hard to bear
a hidden trouble hard to mention (idiom) / sth too embarrassing to mention / an embarrassing illness
no room to advance or to retreat (idiom); without any way out of a dilemma / trapped / in an impossible situation
(coll.) hard to please; high-maintenance
Destiny is inexorable, there is no fleeing it (idiom). Your doom is at hand.
untold dangers and difficulties (idiom)
(idiom) between a rock and a hard place / in a dilemma
return what you borrowed on time, you may borrow again next time (idiom)
enigmatic knot hard to untie (idiom); thorny problem / intractable difficulty
hard to deal with / hard to handle
rare and precious / valuable / remarkable
a friend in times of tribulations (idiom); a friend in need is a friend indeed
hard to untie, hard to separate (idiom); inextricably involved / locked in battle
a beautiful dream is hard to realize (idiom)

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