Dictionary › 苛刻

苛刻

kē kè

HSK 3.0 level 7-9 2-character word

苛刻 (kē kè) means "harsh; severe; demanding". It is an HSK 3.0 level 7-9 word, and was not on the old six-level HSK list.

What 苛刻 means

1. harsh; severe; demanding

The characters in 苛刻

• 苛kēsevere; exacting
• 刻kèquarter (hour); moment; to carve

Example sentences

• 我在慢慢习惯这苛刻的气候。
  I am slowly adjusting to the harsh climate here.

Sounds the same

Read kē kè, tone for tone, but written differently.

• 科克Cork, city in Ireland

Go deeper

• The four tones and the neutral tone, to read kē kè correctly.
• Look up another word in the free dictionary.