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坎坷 (kǎn kě) — (of a road) bumpy, rugged; (of life, career) rough, full of hardships and frustrations

Definition

坎坷 is used almost entirely for life's hardships and setbacks, not just bumpy roads. Contrast with 崎岖, which describes rugged terrain, and with 险 ('dangerous, risky').

adjective
(of a road) bumpyrugged(of life, career) rough, full of hardships and frustrations

Examples

  • 坎坷，。
    Nà tiáo xiǎo lù fēi cháng kǎn kě, kāi chē yào xiǎo xīn.
    That path is very bumpy; be careful when driving.
  • 坎坷，。
    Tā de yì shēng suī rán kǎn kě, dàn tā cóng wèi fàng qì mèng xiǎng.
    Although his life was full of hardships, he never gave up his dreams.
  • 坎坷，。
    Jīng lì le zhè me duō kǎn kě, tā yī rán bǎo chí zhe wēi xiào.
    Having gone through so many hardships, she still keeps a smile.

Origin

Single-morpheme word
构词法gòucífǎ
联绵liánmiánBound pair

Two characters that only ever appear together, spelling one ancient two-syllable word.

坎kǎn
坷kē

In 坎坷 the two characters work only as a pair to describe rough, uneven roads or a difficult life.

Sound-only characters

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
土土tǔearth; soil
Sound part声符shēngfú
欠
欠qiàn坎
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

坎 is made from 土 (earth; soil) plus 欠 as the sound part.

Open 坎 →

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
土土tǔ
Sound part声符shēngfú
可
可kě坷
Same sound today

坷 puts 土 (earth) on the left as the meaning part and 可 on the right as the sound part.

Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Abstract Concepts

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.