| 苦不唧儿 | kǔ bu jīr | erhua variant of 苦不唧, slightly bitter |
| 苦中作乐 | kǔ zhōng zuò lè | to find joy in sorrows (idiom); to enjoy sth in spite of one's suffering |
| 苦主 | kǔ zhǔ | victim's family (esp. in murder case) |
| 苦事 | kǔ shì | hard job; arduous task |
| 苦刑 | kǔ xíng | torture; corporal punishment (traditionally involving mutilation or amputation) |
| 苦劳 | kǔ láo | toil; hard work |
| 苦参 | kǔ shēn | liquorice (Sophora flavescens), with roots used in traditional Chinese medicine |
| 苦口 | kǔ kǒu | lit. bitter taste (cf good medicine tastes bitter 良药苦口); fig. earnestly (of warning, advice) |
| 苦口婆心 | kǔ kǒu pó xīn | earnest and well-meaning advice (idiom); to persuade patiently |
| 苦因 | kǔ yīn | affliction |
| 苦境 | kǔ jìng | grievance; dire straits |
| 苦大仇深 | kǔ dà chóu shēn | great bitterness, deep hatred (idiom); deeply ingrained long-standing resentment |
| 苦寒 | kǔ hán | bitter cold |
| 苦工 | kǔ gōng | hard labor (in penal code); coolie |
| 苦差 | kǔ chāi | hard and unprofitable (job); poorly paid drudgery; arduous and unrewarding (undertaking) |
| 苦差事 | kǔ chāi shi | hard and unprofitable; drudgery; sweated labor |
| 苦待 | kǔ dài | treat harshly |
| 苦心孤诣 | kǔ xīn gū yì | to make painstaking efforts (idiom); after much trouble; to work hard at sth |
| 苦心经营 | kǔ xīn jīng yíng | to build up an enterprise through painstaking efforts |
| 苦思 | kǔ sī | to think hard; bitter thoughts; to pour out one's sufferings |
| 苦思冥想 | kǔ sī míng xiǎng | to consider from all angles (idiom); to think hard; to rack one's brains |
| 苦情 | kǔ qíng | wretched situation; plight; wretched; miserable |
| 苦杏仁苷 | kǔ xìng rén gān | amygdalin |
| 苦果 | kǔ guǒ | lit. bitter fruit; fig. painful consequence |
| 苦根 | kǔ gēn | underlying cause of poverty |
| 苦楝 | kǔ liàn | chinaberry (Melia azedarach) |
| 苦况 | kǔ kuàng | wretched state; miserable plight |
| 苦活 | kǔ huó | bitter work; sweated labor |
| 苦活儿 | kǔ huór | erhua variant of 苦活, bitter work; sweated labor |
苦海无边，
回头是岸 | kǔ hǎi wú biān ,
huí tóu shì àn | The sea of bitterness has no bounds, turn your head to see the shore (idiom). Only Buddhist enlightenment can allow one to shed off the abyss of worldly suffering.; Repent and ye shall be saved! |
| 苦海茫茫 | kǔ hǎi máng máng | sea of bitterness is vast (idiom) |
| 苦熬 | kǔ áo | to endure (years of suffering) |
| 苦瓜 | kǔ guā | bitter melon (bitter gourd, balsam pear, balsam apple, leprosy gourd, bitter cucumber) |
| 苦瓜脸 | kǔ guā liǎn | sour expression on one's face |
| 苦甘 | kǔ gān | bitter sweet |
| 苦尽甘来 | kǔ jìn gān lái | bitterness finishes, sweetness begins (idiom); the hard times are over, the good times just beginning |
| 苦竹 | kǔ zhú | bitter bamboo (Pleioblastus amarus) |
| 苦肉计 | kǔ ròu jì | feigning self-injury to win confidence; confidence game; CL:条 |
| 苦胆 | kǔ dǎn | gall bladder |
| 苦艾 | kǔ ài | wormwood; Artemisia absinthium |
| 苦艾酒 | kǔ ài jiǔ | absinthe (distilled anise-based liquor) |
| 苦苓 | kǔ líng | chinaberry (Melia azedarach) |
| 苦苣 | kǔ jù | endive |
| 苦苦哀求 | kǔ kǔ āi qiú | to entreat piteously; to implore |
| 苦菊 | kǔ jú | endive |
| 苦菜花 | kǔ cài huā | Bitter cauliflower, 1954 socialist realist novel by Feng Deying 冯德英 loosely based on Maxim Gorky's Mother, made into a 1967 film by Li Ang |
| 苦蘵 | kǔ zhí | cutleaf ground-cherry; Physalis angulata |
| 苦行 | kǔ xíng | ascetic practice |
| 苦行赎罪 | kǔ xíng shú zuì | penance (to atone for a sin) |
| 苦谏 | kǔ jiàn | to admonish strenuously |
