Jisho

×

12 strokes
Radical:
earth
Parts:
strict, hard, solid, tough, tight, reliable
Jōyō kanji, taught in junior high
JLPT level N1
1049 of 2500 most used kanji in newspapers

Speed

Stroke order

On reading compounds

  • 堅 【ケン】 strength, solidity, firmness, armour, armor
  • 堅持 【ケンジ】 holding on to, sticking to
  • 中堅 【チュウケン】 nucleus, backbone, mainstay, key figure, medium-level, mid-level, middle-ranking, midsize, main body (of troops), crack troops, select troops, center field, centre field, center fielder, centre fielder, athlete competing in the middle-number match in a team competition, i.e. second in 3-on-3, third in 5-on-5 (kendo, judo, etc.)
  • 米利堅 【メリケン】 America, American, fist

Kun reading compounds

  • 硬い 【かたい】 hard, solid, tough, stiff, tight, wooden, unpolished (e.g. writing), strong, firm (not viscous or easily moved), safe, steady, honest, steadfast, obstinate, stubborn, bookish, formal, stuffy
  • 堅い商売 【かたいしょうばい】 sound business

Readings

Japanese names:
きん
Mandarin Chinese (pinyin):
jian1
Korean:
gyeon

Spanish

  • duro
  • sólido
  • firme
  • apretado
  • estricto

Portuguese

  • de confiança
  • apertado
  • duro
  • sólido
  • firme
  • estrito

French

  • tenace
  • dur
  • strict
  • solide
  • ferme
  • fiable
1217 A Guide To Remembering Japanese Characters (Kenneth G. Henshall)
914 A New Dictionary of Kanji Usage
1096 Classic Nelson (Andrew Nelson)
995 Essential Kanji (P.G. O’Neill)
1155 Japanese Kanji Flashcards (Max Hodges and Tomoko Okazaki)
1796 Japanese Names (P.G. O’Neill)
1289 Kanji and Kana (Spahn and Hadamitzky)
1363 Kanji and Kana, 2nd Edition (Spahn and Hadamitzky)
1228 Kanji in Context (Nishiguchi and Kono)
356 Kodansha Compact Kanji Guide
3502 Kodansha Kanji Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
1805 Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
2457 Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary, 2nd Edition (Jack Halpern)
861 Les Kanjis dans la tete (Yves Maniette)
5210 Morohashi
2823 New Japanese English Character Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
1038 New Nelson (John Haig)
853 Remembering The Kanji (James Heisig)
917 Remembering The Kanji, 6th edition (James Heisig)
1513 Tuttle Kanji Cards (Alexander Kask)
3472 2001 Kanji
3b9.13 The Kanji Dictionary
2-9-3 SKIP code
2-8-3 SKIP code
7710.4 Four corner code
1-23-88 JIS X 0208-1997 kuten code
5805 Unicode hex code

8 strokes
Radical:
grass 艸 (艹)
Parts:
suffering, trial, worry, hardship, feel bitter, scowl
Jōyō kanji, taught in grade 3
JLPT level N3
623 of 2500 most used kanji in newspapers

Speed

Stroke order

On reading compounds

  • 苦 【ク】 pain, anguish, suffering, distress, anxiety, worry, trouble, difficulty, hardship, duhkha (suffering)
  • 苦境 【クキョウ】 difficult situation, adverse circumstances, predicament, trouble, dilemma, distress
  • 生活苦 【セイカツク】 hardships of life (esp. due to lack of money), life's struggles
  • 病苦 【ビョウク】 pain of sickness

Kun reading compounds

  • 苦しい 【くるしい】 painful, difficult, tough, hard, distressing, (psychologically) difficult, stressful, awkward (e.g. position), straitened (circumstances), tight (financial situation), needy, struggling, strained (interpretation, explanation, etc.), lame (e.g. excuse), forced (e.g. smile), far-fetched, hard to do, unpleasant
  • 苦しい言い訳 【くるしいいいわけ】 lame excuse, poor excuse
  • 苦しむ 【くるしむ】 to suffer, to groan, to be worried
  • 苦しめる 【くるしめる】 to torment, to pain, to inflict (physical) pain, to hurt, to harass, to cause (emotional) pain, to afflict, to distress, to bother, to trouble, to stump, to baffle
  • 苦い 【にがい】 bitter
  • 苦い薬 【にがいくすり】 bitter medicine
  • 苦る 【にがる】 to feel bitter, to scowl

Readings

Mandarin Chinese (pinyin):
ku3
Korean:
go

Spanish

  • sufrimiento
  • pena
  • doloroso
  • penoso
  • trabajoso
  • amargo

Portuguese

  • sofrimento
  • experiência
  • preocupar
  • dificuldade
  • sentir- se amargo
  • tristeza

French

  • souffrir
  • peine
  • affliction
  • souci
  • amer
  • renfrogné
197 A Guide To Reading and Writing Japanese (Florence Sakade)
283 A Guide To Reading and Writing Japanese 3rd edition (Henshall, Seeley and De Groot)
264 A Guide To Remembering Japanese Characters (Kenneth G. Henshall)
597 A New Dictionary of Kanji Usage
3928 Classic Nelson (Andrew Nelson)
264 Essential Kanji (P.G. O’Neill)
864 Japanese Kanji Flashcards (Max Hodges and Tomoko Okazaki)
687 Japanese Names (P.G. O’Neill)
545 Kanji and Kana (Spahn and Hadamitzky)
554 Kanji and Kana, 2nd Edition (Spahn and Hadamitzky)
342 Kanji in Context (Nishiguchi and Kono)
646 Kodansha Compact Kanji Guide
2789 Kodansha Kanji Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
1433 Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
1932 Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary, 2nd Edition (Jack Halpern)
230 Les Kanjis dans la tete (Yves Maniette)
30797P Morohashi
2243 New Japanese English Character Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
5009 New Nelson (John Haig)
225 Remembering The Kanji (James Heisig)
239 Remembering The Kanji, 6th edition (James Heisig)
344 The Kanji Way to Japanese Language Power (Dale Crowley)
295 Tuttle Kanji Cards (Alexander Kask)
1977 2001 Kanji
3k5.24 The Kanji Dictionary
2-3-5 SKIP code
4460.4 Four corner code
1-22-76 JIS X 0208-1997 kuten code
82e6 Unicode hex code