苦
苦

suffering, trial, worry, hardship, feel bitter, scowl

8 strokesFrequency 623JLPT N2Grade 3

On

ク

Kun

くる.しい-ぐる.しいくる.しむくる.しめるにが.いにが.る

Memory

Memory Mnemonics

Keywords

suffering

Constituents

?flowers
十needle
十ten
口mouth
古church
古gravestone
古old
古tombstone

Mnemonic Stories

We gave flowers to the old woman suffering in the hospital.

Dictionary

Common Words

くっそ苦蘇こそクッソコソNounUsually kanaFreq #259
1

kousso (African flowering plant, Hagenia abyssinica); kosso; cusso; koso; brayera

苦しいくるしい～い Adj.Freq #972
1

painful; difficult; tough; hard

Examples
苦しい、やめろ。
It's so painful. Stop it!
2

distressing; (psychologically) difficult; stressful; awkward (e.g. position)

Examples
彼は過去の苦しい生活を黙想した。
He meditated on his past life of suffering.
3

straitened (circumstances); tight (financial situation); needy; struggling

Examples
彼の家族はかなり生活が苦しい。
His family is rather badly off.
4

strained (interpretation, explanation, etc.); lame (e.g. excuse); forced (e.g. smile); far-fetched

5

Suffix; After -masu stem of verb; often ぐるしい

hard to do; unpleasant

苦労くろう苦勞Noun～する VerbFreq #1210
1

trouble; hardship; difficulty; labour; labor; toil; pains

Examples
せっかくの苦労もあだになった。
All my pains went for nothing.
2

anxiety; worry; concern; cares

苦しむくるしむIntransitiveGodan verbFreq #1288
1

to suffer; to groan; to be worried

Examples
人々は貧困に苦しんだ。
People were ground down by poverty.
苦手にがてNoun～な Adj.Freq #1621
1

poor (at); weak (in); not very good (at)

Examples
私は数学は苦手だ。
I am out of my element in math.
2

not one's cup of tea; not one's favorite

苦痛くつうNounFreq #2640
1

pain; agony; suffering; distress; torment

Examples
苦痛で彼の顔が歪んでいる。
His face is distorted by pain.
苦しみくるしみNounFreq #2915
1

pain; anguish; distress; suffering; hardship

Examples
私達は他人の苦しみに同情するべきだ。
We should feel for the pains of others.
苦笑くしょうNounIntransitive～する VerbFreq #3040
1

bitter smile; wry smile; strained laugh; sarcastic laugh

めちゃくちゃ《滅茶苦茶》《目茶苦茶》Usually kanaFreq #3398
1

Adjectival nouns or quasi-adjectives (keiyodoshi); Common noun

absurd; unreasonable; nonsensical; preposterous; incoherent

2

Adjectival nouns or quasi-adjectives (keiyodoshi); Common noun

extreme; senseless; reckless; wanton

Examples
オラ気分が良くなったで。でもよ、おとうさんに滅茶苦茶怒られちまうと思うべさ。
I feel a lot better now, but I know Dad's going to be real upset.
3

Adjectival nouns or quasi-adjectives (keiyodoshi); Common noun

disorderly; chaotic; confused; messy

Examples
その地震は何もかもめちゃくちゃにした。
The earthquake smashed everything.
4

Adverb (fukushi)

incredibly; really; so; super

苦いにがい～い Adj.Freq #4132
1

bitter

Examples
私は苦いものが好きだ。
I have a fancy for bitter things.
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