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苦楚 (kǔ chǔ) — suffering; misery

Definition

A written, literary noun for 'suffering' or 'hardship' — used in formal prose rather than everyday speech, where 痛苦 is the more common word.

noun
sufferingmisery

Examples

  • 苦楚，。
    Tā jīng lì le wú jìn de kǔ chǔ, dàn cóng wèi fàng qì.
    He endured endless suffering but never gave up.
  • 苦楚。
    Tā xīn zhōng de kǔ chǔ wú rén néng dǒng.
    The misery in her heart was incomprehensible to others.
  • 苦楚。
    Nà xiē kǔ chǔ zǎo yǐ huà wéi qián xíng de lì liàng.
    That misery has long since become the strength to move forward.

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kǔbitter
楚chǔpainful

苦 and 楚 both point to bitter pain, so the word means suffering.

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 →

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
林林línforest; grove; woods
Sound part声符shēngfú
疋
疋pǐ楚chǔ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The old form combined 林 (forest) with a part like a footprint, perhaps pointing to a place with a group of trees. In 楚, the lower part is written as 疋, which gives the sound and preserves part of that drawing.

Open 楚 →
Appears in
Emotions & Feelings

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