困苦

Chinese

		distress; sleepy; doze off	bitter; intensely; miserable bitter; intensely; miserable; painful
trad. (困苦)		困	苦
simp. #(困苦)		困	苦

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): kùnkǔ

  (Zhuyin): ㄎㄨㄣˋ ㄎㄨˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): kwan³ fu²
• Hakka

  (Sixian, PFS): khun-khú

  (Hailu, HRS): kun^ˇ ku^ˊ

• Puxian Min (Pouseng Ping'ing): kong⁴ kou³ / kuong⁴ kou³
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): khùn-khó͘

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: kùnkǔ
    • Zhuyin: ㄎㄨㄣˋ ㄎㄨˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: kùnkǔ
    • Wade–Giles: kʻun⁴-kʻu³
    • Yale: kwùn-kǔ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: kuennkuu
    • Palladius: куньку (kunʹku)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʰu̯ən⁵¹ kʰu²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: kwan³ fu²
    • Yale: kwan fú
    • Cantonese Pinyin: kwan³ fu²
    • Guangdong Romanization: kuen³ fu²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʷʰɐn³³ fuː³⁵/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: khun-khú
    • Hakka Romanization System: kun ku^ˋ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: kun⁴ ku³
    • Sinological IPA: /kʰun⁵⁵ kʰu³¹/
  • (Hailu, incl. Zhudong)
    • Hakka Romanization System: kun^ˇ ku^ˊ
    • Sinological IPA: /kʰun¹¹ kʰu²⁴/
• Puxian Min
  • (Putian)
    • Pouseng Ping'ing: kong⁴ kou³ [Phonetic: kong¹ kou³]
    • Báⁿ-uā-ci̍: keo̍ng-kô
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʰɔŋ⁴²⁻⁵⁵ kʰɔu⁴⁵³/
  • (Xianyou)
    • Pouseng Ping'ing: kuong⁴ kou³ [Phonetic: kuong¹ kou³]
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʰuoŋ⁴²⁻⁵⁵ kʰɔu³³²/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: khùn-khó͘
    • Tâi-lô: khùn-khóo
    • Phofsit Daibuun: quonqor
    • Sinological IPA (Xiamen): /kʰun²¹⁻⁵³ kʰɔ⁵³/
    • Sinological IPA (Quanzhou): /kʰun⁴¹⁻⁵⁵⁴ kʰɔ⁵⁵⁴/
    • Sinological IPA (Zhangzhou): /kʰun²¹⁻⁵³ kʰɔ⁵³/
    • Sinological IPA (Taipei): /kʰun¹¹⁻⁵³ kʰɔ⁵³/
    • Sinological IPA (Kaohsiung): /kʰun²¹⁻⁴¹ kʰɔ⁴¹/

Adjective

困苦

1. harrowing; miserable

Synonyms

edit

• 厄 (literary, or in compounds)
• 困乏 (kùnfá) (formal)
• 困窘 (kùnjiǒng)
• 困窮 / 困穷 (kùnqióng)
• 困難 / 困难
• 困頓 / 困顿 (kùndùn)
• 宋凶 (Hokkien)
• 散 (Hokkien)
• 散凶 (Hokkien)
• 散赤 (Hokkien)
• 清苦 (qīngkǔ) (especially of scholars and intellectuals)
• 淡薄 (dànbó) (literary)
• 清貧 / 清贫 (qīngpín) (especially of scholars and intellectuals)
• 㾪赤 (Hokkien)
• 磽 / 硗 (Teochew)
• 䆀康 (Hokkien)
• 空乏 (kòngfá) (literary)
• 窄
• 窘促 (jiǒngcù) (literary)
• 窘困 (jiǒngkùn)
• 窘迫 (jiǒngpò)
• 窮 / 穷 (qióng)
• 窮乏 / 穷乏 (qióngfá) (literary)
• 窮困 / 穷困 (qióngkùn)
• 窮㾪 / 穷㾪 (Hokkien)
• 窮苦 / 穷苦 (qióngkǔ)
• 窮赤 / 穷赤 (Hokkien)
• 艱苦 / 艰苦 (Hokkien)
• 苦寒 (kǔhán)
• 貧乏 / 贫乏 (pínfá)
• 貧困 / 贫困 (pínkùn)
• 貧寒 / 贫寒 (pínhán)
• 貧瘠 / 贫瘠 (pínjí) (literary)
• 貧窮 / 贫穷 (pínqióng)
• 貧苦 / 贫苦 (pínkǔ)

Noun

困苦

1. hardship; suffering; ordeal

Synonyms

edit

• 患難 / 患难 (huànnàn)
• 憂患 / 忧患 (yōuhuàn)
• 磨難 / 磨难 (mónàn)
• 風浪 / 风浪 (fēnglàng) (figurative)
• 魔障 (mózhàng) (figurative)

Derived terms

• 艱難困苦 / 艰难困苦 (jiānnánkùnkǔ)
• 顛連困苦 / 颠连困苦

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (困苦):

• → Japanese: 困(こん)苦(く) (konku)
• → Korean: 곤고(困苦) (gon'go)
• → Vietnamese: khốn khổ (困苦)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
困	苦
こん Grade: 6	く Grade: 3
on'yomi

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) こんく [kóꜜǹkù] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [kõ̞ŋkɯ̟]

Noun

困(こん)苦(く) • (konku) ^{←こんく (konku)?}

1. hardship; suffering

Verb

困(こん)苦(く)する • (konku suru) ^{←こんく (konku)?}suru (stem 困(こん)苦(く)し (konku shi), past 困(こん)苦(く)した (konku shita))

1. to suffer

Conjugation

Conjugation of "困苦する" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs)

Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective")	困苦し	こんくし	konku shi
Ren’yōkei ("continuative")	困苦し	こんくし	konku shi
Shūshikei ("terminal")	困苦する	こんくする	konku suru
Rentaikei ("attributive")	困苦する	こんくする	konku suru
Kateikei ("hypothetical")	困苦すれ	こんくすれ	konku sure
Meireikei ("imperative")	困苦せよ¹ 困苦しろ²	こんくせよ¹ こんくしろ²	konku seyo¹ konku shiro²
Key constructions
Passive	困苦される	こんくされる	konku sareru
Causative	困苦させる 困苦さす	こんくさせる こんくさす	konku saseru konku sasu
Potential	困苦できる	こんくできる	konku dekiru
Volitional	困苦しよう	こんくしよう	konku shiyō
Negative	困苦しない	こんくしない	konku shinai
Negative continuative	困苦せず	こんくせず	konku sezu
Formal	困苦します	こんくします	konku shimasu
Perfective	困苦した	こんくした	konku shita
Conjunctive	困苦して	こんくして	konku shite
Hypothetical conditional	困苦すれば	こんくすれば	konku sureba

¹ Written imperative
² Spoken imperative

References

• “困苦”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎^[1] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2026