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苦恼 (kǔ nǎo) — vexed; distressed; troubled

Definition

苦恼 (kǔnǎo) means being distressed or troubled by a specific problem or situation — stronger and more lasting than the casual 烦. Contrast with 烦恼, which leans toward general worries.

adjective
vexeddistressedtroubled

Examples

  • 苦恼。
    Tā zuì jìn wèi gǎn qíng de shì hěn kǔ nǎo.
    He's been very troubled about relationship issues lately.
  • ，苦恼。
    Yù dào zhè zhǒng nán tí, bié tài kǔ nǎo le.
    Don't be too distressed when you run into this kind of tough problem.
  • 苦恼，。
    kǔ nǎo Yě méi yǒu yòng, bù rú xiān lěng jìng xià lái.
    Being distressed won't help; you might as well calm down first.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

苦kǔpainful
恼nǎoannoyed

苦 and 恼 blend into a bitter, troubled feeling of distress.

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
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 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 恼 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Emotions & Feelings

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