Kanji

苦

suffering, trial, worry, hardship, feel bitter, scowl

Kanji

Grade

Grade 3

Strokes

8 strokes

Radical

艸部

On'yomi (Chinese Reading)

ク

Kun'yomi (Japanese Reading)

くるしい, -ぐるしい, くるしむ, くるしめる, にがい, にがる

Common Readings

ク, くる…しい, くる…しむ, くる…しめる, にが…い, にが…る

Example sentences

苦しい くるしい
生活が苦しくて、趣味に充てるお金がない。

Life is hard, and I have no money to spend on hobbies.

勝利 しょうり
彼らは苦しい戦いの末に勝利を収めた。

They achieved a hard-won victory.

苦手 にがて
私は、人前で話すのが苦手です。

I'm not very good at speaking in front of people.

遅い おそい
足が遅いので、走るのは苦手です。

Because I'm slow at running, I'm not good at it.

苦労 くろう
彼は若い頃に大変な苦労をしたそうだ。

I heard that he went through a lot of hardships when he was young.

やっと やっと
苦労の末に、やっと目的地に到着した。

After much hardship, I finally arrived at the destination.

苦笑 くしょう
自分の失敗を指摘され、彼は苦笑するしかなかった。

Having his mistake pointed out, he could only give a wry smile.

苦しむ くるしむ
彼は長年、腰痛に苦しんでいる。

He has been suffering from lower back pain for many years.

飢え うえ
長い干ばつで村の人々は飢えに苦しんだ。

Because of the long drought, the villagers suffered from hunger.

苦痛 くつう
高熱のせいで体を動かすのが苦痛だった。

Moving my body was painful because of the high fever.

Example Vocabulary

苦しい

くるしい

painful; difficult; tight (financial); hard

苦手

にがて

poor at; weak point; dislike; hard to deal with

苦労

くろう

hardship; trouble; suffering

苦笑

くしょう

wry smile; bitter smile; forced smile

苦しむ

くるしむ

to suffer; to be in pain; to struggle

苦痛

くつう

pain; suffering; agony

苦笑い

にがわらい

wry smile, bitter smile

苦い

にがい

bitter

苦しみ

くるしみ

suffering; pain; distress

苦しめる

くるしめる

to torment; to afflict; to cause pain

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 Sign Up

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.