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- bitter water (e.g. mineral water containing sulfates)
- suffering
- digestive fluids rising from stomach to the mouth
- fig. bitter complaint
- lit. sea of bitterness
- abyss of worldly suffering (Buddhist term)
- depths of misery
- bitter melon (bitter gourd, balsam pear, balsam apple, leprosy gourd, bitter cucumber)
Trad. 苦練
- to train hard
- to practice diligently
- hard work
- blood, sweat, and tears
- the eight distresses - birth, age, sickness, death, parting with what we love, meeting with what we hate, unattained aims, and all the ills of the five skandhas (Buddhism)
- exhausting
- hard
- tough
- arduous
- to work hard
- to go to a lot of trouble
- hardship(s)
- (old) the family of the victim in a murder case
- (Tw, HK) victim (of a crime, misfortune etc)
- (Tw) (coll.) person who bears the burden while others benefit
- torture
- corporal punishment (traditionally involving mutilation or amputation)
- bitter work
- hard toil
- (loanword) coolie, unskilled Chinese laborer in colonial times
- lit. bitter taste (cf good medicine tastes bitter 良藥苦口|良药苦口)
- fig. earnestly (of warning, advice)
- to whine about hardships
- to complain of one's bitter lot
- to complain
- to grumble
- hard task
- difficult mission
- arduous and unrewarding undertaking
- drudgery
- grind
- chore
Trad. 苦肉計
- the trick of injuring oneself to gain the enemy's confidence
- CL:條|条[tiao2]
- Bitter Herbs, 1958 novel by Feng Deying 馮德英|冯德英[Feng2 De2 ying1], made into a film in 1965
Trad. 憶苦飯
- unsavory meal taken in remembrance of past hardships
- fig. poor-tasting meal
- to have bitter digestive fluids rising to the mouth
- fig. to complain bitterly
- to pour out one's sufferings
Trad. 吃苦頭
- to suffer
- to suffer for one's actions
- to pay dearly
- to burn one's fingers
- to have difficulty getting by
- to struggle (financially etc)
- to share joys and sorrows
- sharing good times and hard times
- same as 同甘共苦
Trad. 苦盡甘來
- bitterness finishes, sweetness begins (idiom); the hard times are over, the good times just beginning
Trad. 淒風苦雨
- lit. bleak wind and icy rain (idiom)
- fig. hardships; miserable circumstances
- lit. sour, sweet, bitter and spicy (idiom)
- fig. all kinds of flavors; the joys and sorrows of life
- expert craft from hard practice (idiom); hard-won skill
- A masterpiece demands suffering.
Trad. 備嘗艱苦
- see 備嘗辛苦|备尝辛苦[bei4 chang2 xin1 ku3]
- sweet mouth, bitter heart (idiom); insincere flattery
Trad. 備嘗辛苦
- (idiom) to have suffered all kinds of hardships
Trad. 苦集滅道
- the Four Noble Truths (Budd.), namely: all life is suffering 苦[ku3], the cause of suffering is desire 集[ji2], emancipation comes only by eliminating passions 滅|灭[mie4], the way 道[dao4] to emancipation is the Eight-fold Noble Way 八正道[ba1 zheng4 dao4]
- also called 四諦|四谛[si4 di4]
- to ponder earnestly
- to give a lot of thought to sth
Trad. 良藥苦口
- good medicine tastes bitter (idiom); fig. frank criticism is hard to swallow
Trad. 埋頭苦幹
- to bury oneself in work (idiom); to be engrossed in work
- to make an all-out effort
- up to the neck in work
Trad. 勤學苦練
- to study diligently
- to train assiduously
Trad. 訪貧問苦
- to visit the poor and ask about their suffering (idiom)
Trad. 艱苦樸素
- leading a plain, hardworking life (idiom)
Trad. 愛別離苦
- (Buddhism) the pain of parting with what (or whom) one loves, one of the eight distresses 八苦[ba1 ku3]
Trad. 煞費苦心
- to take a lot of trouble (idiom); painstaking
- at the cost of a lot of effort
Trad. 刻苦耐勞
- to bear hardships and work hard (idiom); assiduous and long-suffering
- hard-working and capable of overcoming adversity
Trad. 浴血苦戰
- a blood soaked and hard-fought struggle (idiom)
Trad. 裝窮叫苦
- to feign and complain bitterly of being poverty stricken (idiom)
Trad. 倒懸之苦
- lit. the pain of being hanged upside down (idiom); fig. extremely critical situation
- dire straits
- to consider from all angles (idiom); to think hard
- to rack one's brains
Trad. 千辛萬苦
- to suffer untold hardships (idiom); trials and tribulations
- with difficulty
- after some effort
- to suffer every possible torment (idiom); bitter hardship
- to bear one's cross
Trad. 窮思苦想
- to think hard (idiom)
- to give sth much thought
Trad. 離苦得樂
- to abandon suffering and obtain happiness (Buddhism)
Trad. 堅苦卓絕
- persisting despite trials and tribulations (idiom); conspicuous determination
Trad. 憶苦思甜
- to view one's past as miserable and one's present as happy (idiom)
Trad. 沒苦硬吃
- (neologism c. 2024) to stubbornly endure hardships that need not be endured; to go out of one's way to make things difficult for oneself
Trad. 愁眉苦臉
- to look anxious (idiom)
- to look miserable
Trad. 苦不唧兒
- erhua variant of 苦不唧[ku3 bu5 ji1]
- to suffer unspeakable misery
- indescribably painful
- hellish
Trad. 自討苦吃
- (idiom) to ask for trouble; to make a rod for one's own back
Trad. 苦中作樂
- to find joy in sorrows (idiom); to enjoy sth in spite of one's suffering
Trad. 秘魯苦蘵
- Peruvian ground-cherry
- cape gooseberry
- Physalis peruviana
- earnest and well-meaning advice (idiom); to persuade patiently
Trad. 吃苦耐勞
- hardworking and enduring hardships (idiom)
- to complain without stopping (idiom); to bitch endlessly
- incessant grievances
Trad. 叫苦連天
- to whine on for days (idiom)
- to endlessly grumble complaints
- incessant whining
- to ponder earnestly
- to give a lot of thought to sth
- (idiom) great bitterness and deep hatred; deeply ingrained long-standing resentment
- shared delights and common hardships (idiom); to share life's joys and sorrows
- for better or for worse
Trad. 脫離苦海
- to escape from the abyss of suffering
- to shed off a wretched plight
Trad. 苦心孤詣
- to make painstaking efforts (idiom); after much trouble
- to work hard at sth
Trad. 苦心經營
- to build up an enterprise through painstaking efforts
- (idiom) to think deeply; to rack one's brains
Trad. 勞心苦思
- to rack one's brains
- to think hard
Trad. 有苦說不出
- having unspeakable bitter suffering
- (often used after 啞巴吃黃連|哑巴吃黄连[ya3 ba5 chi1 huang2 lian2])
Trad. 紅腳苦惡鳥
- (bird species of China) brown crake (Amaurornis akool)
Trad. 白胸苦惡鳥
- (bird species of China) white-breasted waterhen (Amaurornis phoenicurus)
Trad. 皇天不負苦心人
- Heaven will not disappoint the person who tries (idiom). If you try hard, you're bound to succeed eventually.
Trad. 小洞不補大洞吃苦
- A small hole not plugged will make you suffer a big hole (idiom); a stitch in time saves nine
Trad. 苦海無邊，回頭是岸
- The sea of bitterness has no bounds, turn your head to see the shore (idiom). Only Buddhist enlightenment can allow one to shed off the abyss of worldly suffering.
- Repent and ye shall be saved!