苦 kǔ
- Strokes
- 8
- Radical
- 艹 — grass, weed, plant, herb
- Made of
- 艹 grass, weed, plant, herb 古 old, classic, ancient
- How it's built
- Phono-semantic — one part hints at the meaning, another at the sound
苦笑
kǔxiào
to smile wryly; to force a smile
Characters in this word
笑 xiào
- Strokes
- 10
- Radical
- ⺮ — bamboo
- Made of
- ⺮ bamboo 夭 young, energetic
- How it's built
- Ideograph — the meaning is built from its parts
Example phrases
- 听到对方又把责任推给天气，他只好苦笑着摇了摇头。 Tīngdào duìfāng yòu bǎ zérèn tuīgěi tiānqì, tā zhǐhǎo kǔxiào zhe yáo le yáo tóu. Hearing the other side blame the weather again, he could only smile wryly and shake his head.
- 面对孩子的问题，他只能苦笑一下。 Miànduì háizi de wèntí, tā zhǐ néng kǔxiào yíxià. Facing the child's question, he could only give a wry smile.
- 她看着湿透的行李，无奈地苦笑起来。 Tā kàn zhe shī tòu de xíngli, wúnài de kǔxiào qǐlai. She looked at her soaked luggage and gave a helpless, wry smile.
Related words
- 痛苦 tòngkǔ pain; suffering
- 苦 kǔ bitter
- 艰苦 jiānkǔ hard; difficult
- 酸甜苦辣 suāntiánkǔlà life's joys and hardships
- 辛苦 xīnkǔ hard; tiring
- 吃苦 chīkǔ to endure hardship
- 愁眉苦脸 chóuméikǔliǎn to look worried; to pull a long face
- 何苦 hékǔ why bother; why make things hard for oneself
- 刻苦 kèkǔ hard-working; assiduous
- 苦尽甘来 kǔjìngānlái after suffering comes happiness
- 苦难 kǔnàn suffering; hardship
- 苦恼 kǔnǎo distressed; troubled