Chinese word

辛苦

Pronunciation

Pinyinxīn kǔ

Meaning

  • adjectivehard

Example

最近工作很辛苦。zuì jìn gōng zuò hěn xīn kǔ

Recently, work has been very hard.

Illustration for 辛苦 (hard)

More examples

项目结束后，大家互相说：你们这段时间真辛苦了。xiàng mù jié shù hòu dà jiā hù xiāng shuō nǐ men zhè duàn shí jiān zhēn xīn kǔ le

When the project ended, everyone said to one another, "You have all worked really hard during this time."

Core concept

A stretch of effort or difficulty that leaves a person feeling worn down.

Common phrases

  • 你辛苦了nǐ xīn kǔ le

    You've worked hard

  • 辛苦的日子xīn kǔ de rì zi

    difficult days

  • 辛苦的经历xīn kǔ de jīng lì

    hard experiences

Similar words

艰苦jiān kǔ: Describes work or conditions made difficult by hardship and the great effort needed to succeed.
吃力chī lì: Describes something that is tiring because it uses a great deal of strength.
劳累láo lèi: Describes the tired, uncomfortable state caused by long hours or heavy demands.
困难kùn nán: Describes something that is hard to achieve or solve and makes handling it stressful.

Definition in Chinese

因工作、学习或其他事务而感到费力或难受，常用来描述遭遇困难和付出较多努力的情形。yīn gōng zuò xué xí huò qí tā shì wù ér gǎn dào fèi lì huò nán shòu cháng yòng lái miáo shù zāo yù kùn nán hé fù chū jiào duō nǔ lì de qíng xíng

Word origin

辛 (xīn, "pungent") + 苦 (kǔ, "bitter") joins two unpleasant sensations into a picture of effort that feels difficult and burdensome.

Usage tips

  • English speakers often use hard mainly for a task, while 辛苦了 (xīnkǔ le, "thanks for the hard work") recognizes the person's effort after a demanding task.

Other meanings

  • toilverb

Opposites

Related words

  • 辛苦费xīn kǔ fèihard-work compensationnoun

Word lists with this word