艰苦卓绝 (jiān kǔ zhuō jué) — extremely arduous and difficult; marked by exceptional hardship and struggle

Definition

An emphatic chengyu meaning 'extremely arduous and heroic' — used for long, sustained struggle (wars, missions, lives), not everyday hardship. Stronger and more literary than 艰苦 alone.

idiom
extremely arduous and difficultmarked by exceptional hardship and struggle

Examples

  • 艰苦卓绝，。
    Zài jiān kǔ zhuō jué de tiáo jiàn xià, tā men réng rán jiān chí wán chéng le rèn wu.
    Under extraordinarily difficult conditions, they still insisted on completing the mission.
  • 艰苦卓绝。
    Zhè chǎng zhàn zhēng jīng lì le yì bǎi duō nián jiān kǔ zhuō jué de dòu zhēng.
    This war experienced over a hundred years of arduous struggle.
  • 艰苦卓绝。
    Tā yì shēng dōu zài wèi lǐ xiǎng ér jiān kǔ zhuō jué dì fèn dòu.
    He struggled with extraordinary difficulty his whole life for his ideals.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

艰苦hard and bitter
艰jiāndifficult苦kǔbitter
联合Side by side
卓绝outstanding and unmatched
卓zhuóoutstanding绝juéunmatched
联合Side by side

艰苦 gives hard and bitter, and 卓绝 gives outstanding and unmatched; together they say such hardship is extraordinary.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 艱; 艰 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
𦰩𦰩𦰩
Sound part声符shēngfú
艮
艮gèn艱jiān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 艱 pairs 𦰩 for meaning with 艮 for sound; the simplified 艰 is a later abbreviation.

Open 艰 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
艸艸cǎograss
Sound part声符shēngfú
古
古gǔ苦kǔ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The top 艸 shows grass or plants, matching the sense of bitter plants. The bottom 古 gives the sound.

Open 苦 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

The old shape has been explained as a child with a flag-like mark above, or as a man standing high on an altar, giving the sense of tall and outstanding.

Open 卓 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 絕; 绝 is its simplified writing.

In the traditional form 絕, 刀 (knife) and 幺 (silk) show a knife cutting silk threads. The simplified 绝 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the original picture.

Open 绝 →

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