Chinese word

困

Pronunciation

Pinyinkùn

Meaning

  • adjectivesleepy

Example

我今天很困，想早点睡。wǒ jīn tiān hěn kùn xiǎng záo diǎn shuì

I am very sleepy today, so I want to go to bed early.

Illustration for 困 (sleepy)

More examples

上课的时候我总是很困。shàng kè de shí hòu wǒ zǒng shì hěn kùn

I am always very sleepy during class.

Core concept

Sleep or trouble holds a person or thing back, so it cannot act freely or find an easy way forward.

Common phrases

  • 很困hěn kùn

    very sleepy

  • 困了kùn le

    get sleepy

Similar words

犯困fàn kùn: Suddenly feeling very sleepy and likely to doze off even while sitting.

Definition in Chinese

感到想睡、犯困；在其它语境中可表示遭受包围或处于窘迫困难的状态。gǎn dào xiǎng shuì fàn kùn zài qí tā yǔ jìng zhōng kě biǎo shì zāo shòu bāo wéi huò chǔ yú jiǒng pò kùn nán de zhuàng tài

Word origin

困 (kùn, "sleepy; trapped; in difficulty") is formed from 囗 (wéi, "enclosure") + 木 (mù, "tree"), giving the basic picture of something enclosed and unable to move freely.

Usage tips

  • A sleepy child and a person with money trouble can both be described with the same Chinese word, but English normally uses different words, so the context supplies the detail.

Other meanings

  • be stuckverb
  • be hard upverb

Opposites

Related words

  • 困意kùn yìsleepinessnoun
  • 困倦kùn juàndrowsyadjective

Word lists with this word