Chinese word

艰辛

Pronunciation

Pinyinjiān xīn

Meaning

  • adjectivehard

Example

留学生活很艰辛，但很有收获。liú xué shēng huó hěn jiān xīn dàn hěn yǒu shōu huò

Life as an international student was hard, but very rewarding.

Illustration for 艰辛 (hard)

More examples

面对艰辛的挑战，他们没有放弃。miàn duì jiān xīn de tiǎo zhàn tā men méi yǒu fàng qì

Facing hard challenges, they did not give up.

Core concept

A long, heavy passage in which ordinary progress takes unusual effort.

Common phrases

  • 艰辛的过程jiān xīn de guò chéng

    difficult process

  • 艰辛的岁月jiān xīn de suì yuè

    difficult years

Similar words

困难kùn nán: Describes a situation or task that presents difficulty in doing or solving it.
辛苦xīn kǔ: Describes feeling worn out and troubled by physical or mental effort.
艰苦jiān kǔ: Describes living or working conditions that are harsh and filled with hardship.
艰难jiān nán: Describes progress toward a goal when many obstacles make achievement very difficult.

Definition in Chinese

表示遭遇困难并感到辛苦的状态或经历，常用于描述生活、工作或旅程中的艰难过程。biǎo shì zāo yù kùn nán bìng gǎn dào xīn kǔ de zhuàng tài huò jīng lì cháng yòng yú miáo shù shēng huó gōng zuò huò lǚ chéng zhōng de jiān nán guò chéng

Word origin

艰 (jiān, "difficult") + 辛 (xīn, "bitter") combine to give the word a sense of serious hardship in a lived situation.

Usage tips

  • The word carries more weight than a casual complaint about tiredness, so it suits serious challenges and demanding periods rather than routine inconvenience.

Other meanings

  • difficultynoun

Opposites

Word lists with this word