Chinese words starting with “ku”
17 words in our HSK vocabulary start with the syllable ku. They are sorted by how common they are, so the ones you are most likely to meet come first. The 1 most useful of them have their own page — they are listed first below.
Initial k · final u · hear the four tones and see example characters →
- 1st tone 6
- 3rd tone 8
- 4th tone 3
Word counts by tone are counted on the first syllable of each word.
Common words with this syllable
- 裤子kù ziHSK 3
trousers; pants
All 17 words
| # | Word | Pinyin | POS | Meaning | Study list |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 哭 | kū | v | to cry; to weep | |
| 2 | 酷 | kù | g,d | ruthless; strong (e.g. of wine); (loanword) cool; hip | |
| 3 | 苦 | kǔ | a,an,ad,v | bitter; hardship; pain; to suffer; to bring suffering to; painstakingly | |
| 4 | 库 | kù | n | warehouse; storehouse; (file) library | |
| 5 | 哭泣 | kū qì | v,vn | to weep | |
| 6 | 苦难 | kǔ nàn | n | suffering | |
| 7 | 苦恼 | kǔ nǎo | a,an | vexed; distressed | |
| 8 | 枯燥 | kū zào | a,ad | dry and dull; uninteresting; dry-as-dust | |
| 9 | 枯竭 | kū jié | v | used up; dried up; exhausted (of resources) | |
| 10 | 苦练 | kǔ liàn | v,vn | to train hard; to practice diligently; hard work; blood, sweat, and tears | |
| 11 | 窟窿 | kū long | n | hole; pocket; cavity; loophole; debt | |
| 12 | 苦力 | kǔ lì | n | bitter work; hard toil; (loanword) coolie, unskilled Chinese laborer in colonial times | |
| 13 | 苦笑 | kǔ xiào | v,n | to force a smile; a bitter laugh | |
| 14 | 哭笑不得 | kū xiào bù dé | l | lit. not to know whether to laugh or cry (idiom); both funny and extremely embarrassing; between laughter and tears | |
| 15 | 苦心 | kǔ xīn | n | painstaking effort; to take a lot of trouble; laborious at pains | |
| 16 | 酷似 | kù sì | v | to strikingly resemble | |
| 17 | 苦尽甘来 | kǔ jìn gān lái | v | bitterness finishes, sweetness begins (idiom); the hard times are over, the good times just beginning |
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