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难堪 (nán kān) — embarrassed; awkward; hard to bear; unbearable

Definition

难堪 (nánkān) covers both 'embarrassed' (a person) and 'awkward/unbearable' (a situation). For the social-embarrassment sense it is close to 尴尬 and 难为情; for 'hard to bear' it overlaps with 难受, but is stronger and more literary.

embarrassedawkwardhard to bearunbearable

Examples

  • 难堪。
    Tā shuō de huà ràng wǒ gǎn dào hěn nán kān.
    What he said made me feel very embarrassed.
  • 难堪。
    Zhè zhǒng nán kān de jú miàn zhōng yú jié shù le.
    This awkward situation finally ended.
  • ，难堪。
    Lián xù jiā bān sān tiān, shēn tǐ shí zài nán kān.
    Working overtime three days in a row, my body really couldn't take it.

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.

难nánhard
堪kānbear

难 means hard and 堪 means bear; hard to bear gives embarrassment.

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 難; 难 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
隹隹zhuībird
Sound part声符shēngfú
暵
暵hàn難nán
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional 難 pairs 隹, a bird, with 暵 for sound, and meant a type of bird. It was later borrowed for other meanings; the modern 难 is a shorthand.

Open 难 →

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
Sound part声符shēngfú
甚
甚shèn堪kān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left part 土 is earth. The right part 甚 gives the sound and also hints at something extreme, matching the old idea of a heavy earthen protrusion whose weight one bears.

Open 堪 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Emotions & Feelings5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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