Dictionary › 不堪

不堪

bù kān

Old HSK 6 HSK 3.0 level 7-9 2-character word

不堪 (bù kān) means "cannot bear; cannot stand; utterly". It is an HSK 3.0 level 7-9 word, and was HSK 6 in the old six-level list.

What 不堪 means

1. cannot bear
2. cannot stand
3. utterly
4. extremely

The characters in 不堪

• 不bùno; not so; (bound form) not; un-
• 堪kān(bound form) may; can; (bound form) to endure; to bear; (in 堪舆

Example sentences

• 她的衣服破旧不堪。
  Tā de yīfu pòjiù bù kān.
  Her clothes are worn out.
• 我们还是脆弱不堪。
  We're still vulnerable.
• 这部发生在破旧不堪小镇的救赎与希望之歌，是南非选送今年奥斯卡的作品，并入围了最佳外语片五强角逐。
  A gritty story of redemption and hope in a ramshackle urban township is the South African entry for this year's Academy Awards and one of the five finalists for Best Foreign Language Film.
• 在过去一个相当长的时期里，社会都是等级制度森严并且极度不公的，做为社会阶级中最大一部分的贫农常常被赋税，战争，饥荒压得喘不过气来，痛苦不堪。
  Zài guòqù yī gè xiāngdāng cháng de shíqī lǐ, shèhuì dōu shì děngjí zhìdù sēnyán bìngqiě jídù bùgōng de, zuò wéi shèhuì jiējí zhōng zuì dà yī bùfen de pín nóng chángcháng bèi fùshuì, zhànzhēng, jīhuang yā de chuǎnbuguò qì lái, tòngkǔ bùkān.
  For a long time, society was strongly hierarchical and unequal, primarily composed of peasants. The most backward, impoverished segment of the population, they were crushed by the weight of taxes, wars, and famines.

Words starting with 不堪

• 不堪设想bù kān shè xiǎngtoo horrible to contemplate; unthinkable; inconceivable
• 不堪一击bù kān yī jī(idiom) unable to withstand a single blow; to collapse at the first blow
• 不堪入目bù kān rù mùunbearable to look at; an eyesore

Words containing 不堪

• 疲惫不堪pí bèi bù kānexhausted; fatigued to the extreme
• 苦不堪言kǔ bù kān yánto suffer unspeakable misery; indescribably painful; hellish
• 拥挤不堪yōng jǐ bù kānovercrowded; jam-packed
• 狼狈不堪láng bèi bù kānbattered and exhausted; stuck in a dilemma

Where 不堪 is taught

In the GraphChinese course it is part of HSK 6 Vocabulary · bù (HSK 6), each one a topic in the dependency graph of HSK 1–6 that opens only once its prerequisites are solid.

Go deeper

• Every HSK 6 word, with the rest of its level.
• The four tones and the neutral tone, to read bù kān correctly.
• Look up another word in the free dictionary.