Meaning
bitter; intensely; miserable; painful
Chinese: 味苦，也表示辛苦、痛苦。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “ku” becomes a different word in each tone. 苦 is the 3rd tone. Tap any tone to hear a native voice and see its pitch shape.
Stroke Order
Tap Animate to watch the strokes in order, or Practice to trace it yourself.
Common Words
- 痛苦tòng kǔpain; suffering; painful
- 辛苦xīn kǔexhausting; hard; tough; arduous
- 艰苦jiān kǔdifficult; hard; arduous
- 刻苦kè kǔhardworking; assiduous
- 酸甜苦辣suān tián kǔ làlit. sour, sweet, bitter and spicy (idiom); fig. all kinds of flavors; the joys and sorrows of life
Example Sentence
这种药有点儿苦。Zhè zhǒng yào yǒu diǎnr kǔ.This medicine is a bit bitter.
这种zhè zhǒngthis kind of药yàoleaf of the iris有点儿yǒu diǎn rslightly苦kǔbitter。
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
The plant radical 艹 (meaning) plus 古 (gǔ, sound): a bitter-tasting herb — ‘bitter’, and by extension ‘hardship’.
A way to remember it
A bitter herb (艹) + the sound 古 — bitter.
Easy to confuse with
- 古‘Ancient’: the sound part of 苦, on its own.