Dictionary › 刻苦

刻苦

kè kǔ

Old HSK 5 HSK 3.0 level 7-9 2-character word

刻苦 (kè kǔ) means "hardworking; assiduous". It is an HSK 3.0 level 7-9 word, and was HSK 5 in the old six-level list.

What 刻苦 means

1. hardworking
2. assiduous

The characters in 刻苦

• 刻kèquarter (hour); moment; to carve
• 苦kǔbitter; hardship; pain

Example sentences

• 他比您更刻苦。
  Tā bǐ nín gèng kèkǔ.
  He's even more hardworking than you are.
• 她比您更刻苦。
  Tā bǐ nín gèng kèkǔ.
  She's even more hardworking than you are.

Words starting with 刻苦

• 刻苦钻研kè kǔ zuān yánto study diligently
• 刻苦耐劳kè kǔ nài láoto bear hardships and work hard (idiom); assiduous and long-suffering…

Where 刻苦 is taught

In the GraphChinese course it is part of Personal Qualities & Character (HSK 5), each one a topic in the dependency graph of HSK 1–6 that opens only once its prerequisites are solid.

Go deeper

• Every HSK 5 word, with the rest of its level.
• The four tones and the neutral tone, to read kè kǔ correctly.
• Look up another word in the free dictionary.