苦
HSK 3

苦 (kǔ): bitter, hardship, suffering

kǔ

bitter, hardship, suffering

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Pinyin

kǔ

HSK Level

Level 3

Characters

1

English Meaning

bitter, hardship, suffering

How to Write 苦 (kǔ)

苦 is written in 8 strokes. Follow the stroke order below, drawing each highlighted stroke in turn.

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8

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Origin of 苦

A phono-semantic compound: 艹 (grass) carries the meaning, and 古 hints at the pronunciation.

What 苦 is Made Of

苦 is built from 2 components:

艹grass, weed, plant, herb
古old, classic, ancient

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Words Using 苦

Common Chinese words that contain 苦:

刻苦

kèkǔ

吃苦

chīkǔ

痛苦

tòngkǔ

艰苦

jiānkǔ

苦涩

kǔsè

辛苦

xīnkǔ

苦尽甘来

kǔjìngānlái

Characters Related to 苦

These characters share a building block with 苦:

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