酷暑 (kù shǔ) — intense summer heat, scorching heat

Definition

A literary, written term for extreme summer heat. More formal than everyday words like 炎热 — used in news and prose to stress the severity of the heat.

noun
intense summer heatscorching heat

Examples

  • 酷暑，。
    Jīn nián xià tiān kù shǔ nán nài, hěn duō rén dōu qù hǎi biān bì shǔ.
    This summer's scorching heat is unbearable; many people go to the seaside to escape it.
  • 酷暑，。
    kù shǔ Shí jié, dà jiā yào zhù yì fáng shǔ jiàng wēn.
    During the intense summer heat, everyone should take care to prevent heatstroke and cool down.
  • 酷暑。
    Lián xù yì zhōu de kù shǔ ràng nóng zuò wù shòu dào le hěn dà yǐng xiǎng.
    A week of scorching heat has greatly affected the crops.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

酷kùsevere
暑shǔsummer heat

酷 sharpens 暑, giving the severe heat of summer.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
酉酉yǒualcoholic drink vessel
Sound part声符shēngfú
告
告gào酷kù
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

酷 pairs 酉, an alcoholic drink vessel, with 告, which gives the sound.

Open 酷 →

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
日日rì
Sound part声符shēngfú
者
者zhě暑shǔ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

暑 is built from 日, which carries the meaning, and 者, which carries the sound.

Open 暑 →

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