Japanese

しい

くるしい
Meaning: painful; difficult; tight (financial); hard
Part of Speech: Adjective

Listen to pronunciation

Handwriting

苦
し
い

Example sentences

Life is hard, and I have no money to spend on hobbies.
彼らは苦しい戦いの末に勝利を収めた。
They achieved a hard-won victory.
被災者の苦しい心情を察すると、胸が痛む。
When I consider the painful feelings of the disaster victims, my heart aches.
成功するためには、苦しい時の辛抱が必要だ。
To succeed, patience during tough times is necessary.
彼の苦しい胸のうちを汲んで、何も言わずにそばにいた。
I empathized with his painful inner thoughts and stayed by his side without saying anything.
苦しい時こそ、最後まで踏ん張ることが大切だ。
It is important to hold your ground until the end, especially when things are tough.
苦しい時に受けた友人の優しさが、心から身に染みた。
The kindness of my friend when I was going through a hard time truly touched my heart.
物価の上昇が続き、家計が苦しくなっている。
As prices continue to rise, the household budget is becoming tight.
立ち上がりから後手に回ってしまい、苦しい戦いを強いられた。
Being on the defensive from the start, I was forced into a difficult battle.
ガソリン代がまた値上げされたので、家計が少し苦しいです。
Gasoline prices have risen again, so it's a bit tough on the household budget.

Usage Notes

Can describe physical pain (like difficulty breathing), mental distress, or financial hardship.

Sottaku

About Sottaku

Sottaku is an app for learning Chinese, Japanese, Korean, English, Spanish, French, German, and Italian with a strong focus on SRS. It includes automatic flashcard creation for hundreds of thousands of words, grammar breakdowns in example sentences, language-specific study packs where available, adaptive quizzes, mobile apps, a browser extension, and community features. Give it a try now! All learning content is free with no limits on flashcards or study time.

Sottaku is built to match the habits of successful learners. By using Sottaku, you will naturally learn in the most efficient way possible, as proven by countless success stories in the language learning community.

Free Forever

Access all grammar guides, quizzes, and flashcards without paying a cent. Quality education should be accessible to everyone.

Smart SRS System

Our flashcard system uses the FSRS algorithm (also used in Anki) to optimize your review schedule and maximize retention.

Comprehensive Content

From hanzi, kana, hangul, and European vocabulary basics to grammar and reading practice where available, we have lessons for every level. Practice with quizzes tailored to your skill.

Community Chat

Ask level-appropriate questions and get help from the community. Learn together with fellow learners across all 8 supported languages.