刻苦

Chinese

		quarter (hour); (a measure word); to carve quarter (hour); (a measure word); to carve; to engrave; to cut; oppressive	bitter; intensely; miserable bitter; intensely; miserable; painful
trad. (刻苦)		刻	苦
simp. #(刻苦)		刻	苦

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Standard)

  (Pinyin): kèkǔ, kēkǔ

  (Zhuyin): ㄎㄜˋ ㄎㄨˇ, ㄎㄜ ㄎㄨˇ

  (Chengdu, Sichuanese Pinyin): ke² ku³

• Cantonese (Jyutping): hak¹ fu²

• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): khek-khó͘ / khiak-khó͘

  (Teochew, Peng'im): kag⁴ kou²

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, standard in Mainland and Taiwan)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: kèkǔ
    • Zhuyin: ㄎㄜˋ ㄎㄨˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: kèkǔ
    • Wade–Giles: kʻo⁴-kʻu³
    • Yale: kè-kǔ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: kehkuu
    • Palladius: кэку (kɛku)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʰɤ⁵¹ kʰu²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
      
  • (Standard Chinese, variant in Taiwan)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: kēkǔ
    • Zhuyin: ㄎㄜ ㄎㄨˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: kekǔ
    • Wade–Giles: kʻo¹-kʻu³
    • Yale: kē-kǔ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: kekuu
    • Palladius: кэку (kɛku)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʰɤ⁵⁵ kʰu²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
  • (Chengdu)
    • Sichuanese Pinyin: ke² ku³
    • Scuanxua Ladinxua Xin Wenz: keku
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʰɛ²¹ kʰu⁵³/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: hak¹ fu²
    • Yale: hāk fú
    • Cantonese Pinyin: hak⁷ fu²
    • Guangdong Romanization: heg¹ fu²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /hɐk̚⁵ fuː³⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: khek-khó͘
    • Tâi-lô: khik-khóo
    • Phofsit Daibuun: qekqor
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /kʰiɪk̚³²⁻⁴ kʰɔ⁴¹/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /kʰiɪk̚³²⁻⁵ kʰɔ⁵³/
    • IPA (Xiamen, Taipei): /kʰiɪk̚³²⁻⁴ kʰɔ⁵³/
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: khiak-khó͘
    • Tâi-lô: khiak-khóo
    • Phofsit Daibuun: qiakqor
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /kʰiak̚⁵⁻²⁴ kʰɔ⁵⁵⁴/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: kag⁴ kou²
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: khak khóu
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʰak̚²⁻⁴ kʰou⁵²⁻²¹/

Adjective

刻苦

1. industrious; assiduous; diligent
2. (of life) basic; frugal

Synonyms

• (industrious):

• 亹亹 (wěiwěi) (literary)
• 力落 (Teochew)
• 努力 (nǔlì)
• 勤力 (qínlì) (literary or Cantonese)
• 勤勉 (qínmiǎn)
• 勤勞／勤劳 (qínláo)
• 勤奮／勤奋 (qínfèn)
• 勤快 (qínkuài) (informal)
• 勤懇／勤恳 (qínkěn) (diligent and conscientious)
• 勤謹／勤谨 (Dungan)
• 堅苦／坚苦 (jiānkǔ) (hardworking and persevering)
• 巴劫 (bājié) (literary)
• 巴巴結結／巴巴结结 (bāba-jiējiē) (regional)
• 急計／急计 (Zhangzhou Hokkien)
• 用功 (yònggōng)
• 發狠／发狠 (fa³ hen⁶) (Xiang)
• 耐勞／耐劳 (nàiláo)
• 骨力 (Hokkien, Puxian Min)

 

• (frugal):

• 仔細／仔细 (zǐxì) (Northeastern Mandarin)
• 做人家 (Wu)
• 儉／俭 (jiǎn) (Hsinchu & Taichung Hokkien)
• 儉樸／俭朴 (jiǎnpǔ) (thrifty and simple)
• 儉省／俭省 (jiǎnshěng)
• 儉約／俭约 (jiǎnyuē) (literary)
• 克己 (kèjǐ)
• 抾拾 (Hokkien)
• 樸素／朴素 (pǔsù)
• 省儉／省俭 (shěngjiǎn)
• 節儉／节俭 (jiéjiǎn)
• 節省／节省 (jiéshěng)
• 節約／节约 (jiéyuē)
• 簡省／简省 (Hokkien)
• 粒積／粒积 (Hokkien)
• 𧺤儉／𧺤俭 (Hokkien)

 

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “industrious”): 懶惰／懒惰 (lǎnduò)

Adverb

刻苦

1. industriously; assiduously; diligently; hard

   刻苦學習／刻苦学习  ―  kèkǔ xuéxí  ―  to study hard

Verb

刻苦

1. (dialectal) to treat harshly

Synonyms

• 苛待 (kēdài)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
刻	苦
こく > こっ Grade: 6	く Grade: 3
on’yomi

Noun

刻(こっ)苦(く) • (kokku) 

1. hard work

Verb

刻(こっ)苦(く)する • (kokku suru) suru (stem 刻(こっ)苦(く)し (kokku shi), past 刻(こっ)苦(く)した (kokku shita))

1. work hard

Conjugation

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

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