Onyomi: ク · Kunyomi: -ぐる.しい, くる.しい, くる.しむ, くる.しめる, にが.い, にが.る · Meanings: feel bitter, hardship, scowl, suffering, trial, worry
Kanji for feel bitter, hardship, scowl, suffering, trial
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Find visually similar kanji, commonly confused characters, related meanings, and useful words connected to 苦.
The kanji 苦 combines the grass radical 艹 on top with 古 (old) below. In ancient times, plants were associated with medicine and herbs, many of which were bitter. The top radical 艹 represents plants or herbs, while 古 depicts an old symbol or container associated with preparing these herbs. Together, 苦 painted the image of tasting bitter plants or enduring hardship. Over time, this character came to represent “bitter” in taste as well as “suffering” or “pain” in a broader sense.
苦 shows grass or herbs (艹) above 古, symbolizing the bitterness of certain plants and extending to the feeling of suffering or hardship.
Imagine tasting a bitter herb (艹 + 古) — that sharp, unpleasant taste reminds you of 苦: bitter or suffering.
| Word | Reading | Meaning | Meta |
|---|---|---|---|
| 苦 | く | pain, anguish, suffering, distress, anxiety, worry, trouble, difficulty, hardship | Noun |
| 苦い | にがい | bitter | common JLPT-N4 I-adjective (keiyoushi) |
| 苦労 | くろう | trouble, hardship, difficulty, labour, labor, toil, pains | common JLPT-N3 Noun, Suru verb |
| 苦手 | にがて | poor (at), weak (in), not very good (at) | common JLPT-N3 Na-adjective (keiyodoshi), Noun |
| 苦痛 | くつう | pain, agony, suffering, distress, torment | common JLPT-N3 Noun |
| 苦しい | くるしい | painful, difficult, tough, hard | common JLPT-N3 I-adjective (keiyoushi) |
| 苦しむ | くるしむ | to suffer, to groan, to be worried | common JLPT-N3 Godan verb with 'mu' ending, Intransitive verb |
| 苦情 | くじょう | complaint, troubles, objection, grievance | common JLPT-N2 Noun |
| 苦心 | くしん | pains, hard work, effort, trouble, labour, labor | common JLPT-N2 Noun, Suru verb, Intransitive verb |
| 苦しめる | くるしめる | to torment, to pain, to inflict (physical) pain, to hurt | common JLPT-N1 Ichidan verb, Transitive verb |