Chinese Conversation · Level 4
88 words
Chinese word
苦
Pronunciation
Pinyinkǔ
Meaning
- adjectivebitter
Example
这药很苦。zhè yào hěn kǔ
This medicine is very bitter.
More examples
她的生活一直很苦。tā de shēng huó yì zhí hěn kǔ
Her life has always been very hard.
Core concept
A sharp, unpleasant quality that lingers on the tongue or makes life difficult to bear.
Common phrases
味道很苦wèi dào hěn kǔ
very bitter in taste
喝起来很苦hē qǐ lái hěn kǔ
taste very bitter
Similar words
辣là: Having a spicy taste that feels hot and prickly in the mouth.
甜tián: Having a taste like sugar, often found in candy, fruit, or desserts.
酸suān: Having a taste that makes the mouth pucker, like lemon or vinegar.
咸xián: Having a strong taste of salt, like seawater or salted food.
Definition in Chinese
主要指味觉上的苦味，常见于植物或药物；也可比喻精神或生活上的痛苦和艰难。zhǔ yào zhǐ wèi jué shàng de kǔ wèi cháng jiàn yú zhí wù huò yào wù yě kě bǐ yù jīng shén huò shēng huó shàng de tòng kǔ hé jiān nán
Word origin
苦 (kǔ, "bitter") combines 艹 (cǎo, "grass") + 古 (gǔ, "old"), with the first part pointing to plants and the second supplying the sound; its taste sense extends to painful hardship.
Usage tips
- The taste sense can describe food or medicine, but the hardship sense usually appears in a longer expression about suffering or difficulty, not as a bare label for a person's mood.