苦口
kǔ kǒu
Pinyin

Definition

苦口
 - 
kǔ kǒu
  1. lit. bitter taste (cf good medicine tastes bitter 良藥苦口|良药苦口)
  2. fig. earnestly (of warning, advice)

Character Decomposition

Related Words (20)

人口
rén kǒu
  1. 1 population
  2. 2 people
入口
rù kǒu
  1. 1 entrance
  2. 2 to import
口
kǒu
  1. 1 mouth
  2. 2 classifier for things with mouths (people, domestic animals, cannons, wells etc)
  3. 3 classifier for bites or mouthfuls
口味
kǒu wèi
  1. 1 a person's preferences
  2. 2 tastes (in food)
  3. 3 flavor
痛苦
tòng kǔ
  1. 1 pain
  2. 2 suffering
  3. 3 painful
  4. 4 CL:個|个[gè]
胃口
wèi kǒu
  1. 1 appetite
  2. 2 liking
苦
kǔ
  1. 1 bitter
  2. 2 hardship
  3. 3 pain
  4. 4 to suffer
  5. 5 to bring suffering to
  6. 6 painstakingly
辛苦
xīn kǔ
  1. 1 exhausting
  2. 2 hard
  3. 3 tough
  4. 4 arduous
  5. 5 to work hard
  6. 6 to go to a lot of trouble
  7. 7 hardship(s)
门口
mén kǒu
  1. 1 doorway
  2. 2 gate
  3. 3 CL:個|个[gè]
一口气
yī kǒu qì
  1. 1 one breath
  2. 2 in one breath
  3. 3 at a stretch
三岔口
Sān chà kǒu
  1. 1 At the Crossroads, famous opera, based on a story from 水滸傳|水浒传[Shuǐ hǔ Zhuàn]
何苦
hé kǔ
  1. 1 why bother?
  2. 2 is it worth the trouble?
借口
jiè kǒu
  1. 1 to use as an excuse
  2. 2 on the pretext
  3. 3 excuse
  4. 4 pretext
伤口
shāng kǒu
  1. 1 wound
  2. 2 cut
两口子
liǎng kǒu zi
  1. 1 husband and wife
出口
chū kǒu
  1. 1 an exit
  2. 2 CL:個|个[gè]
  3. 3 to speak
  4. 4 to export
  5. 5 (of a ship) to leave port
刻苦
kè kǔ
  1. 1 hardworking
  2. 2 assiduous
劳苦
láo kǔ
  1. 1 to toil
  2. 2 hard work
十字路口
shí zì lù kǒu
  1. 1 crossroads
  2. 2 intersection
千辛万苦
qiān xīn wàn kǔ
  1. 1 to suffer untold hardships (idiom); trials and tribulations
  2. 2 with difficulty
  3. 3 after some effort

Idioms (20)

三缄其口
sān jiān qí kǒu
  1. 1 (idiom) reluctant to speak about it
  2. 2 tight-lipped
不胜其苦
bù shèng qí kǔ
  1. 1 unable to bear the pain (idiom)
不蒸馒头争口气
bù zhēng mán tou zhēng kǒu qì
  1. 1 not to be crushed (idiom)
  2. 2 to be determined to have one's revenge
交口称誉
jiāo kǒu chēng yù
  1. 1 voices unanimous in praise (idiom); with an extensive public reputation
以免借口
yǐ miǎn jiè kǒu
  1. 1 to remove sth that could be used as a pretext (idiom)
佛口蛇心
fó kǒu shé xīn
  1. 1 words of a Buddha, heart of a snake (idiom); two-faced
  2. 2 malicious and duplicitous
俗谚口碑
sú yàn kǒu bēi
  1. 1 common sayings (idiom); widely circulated proverbs
信口开河
xìn kǒu kāi hé
  1. 1 to speak without thinking (idiom)
  2. 2 to blurt sth out
倒悬之苦
dào xuán zhī kǔ
  1. 1 lit. the pain of being hanged upside down (idiom); fig. extremely critical situation
  2. 2 dire straits
备尝辛苦
bèi cháng xīn kǔ
  1. 1 to have suffered all kinds of hardships (idiom)
冥思苦想
míng sī kǔ xiǎng
  1. 1 to consider from all angles (idiom); to think hard
  2. 2 to rack one's brains
冥思苦索
míng sī kǔ suǒ
  1. 1 to mull over (idiom)
  2. 2 to think long and hard
出口成章
chū kǒu chéng zhāng
  1. 1 (idiom) (of one's speech) eloquent
  2. 2 articulate
刻苦耐劳
kè kǔ nài láo
  1. 1 to bear hardships and work hard (idiom); assiduous and long-suffering
  2. 2 hard-working and capable of overcoming adversity
千辛万苦
qiān xīn wàn kǔ
  1. 1 to suffer untold hardships (idiom); trials and tribulations
  2. 2 with difficulty
  3. 3 after some effort
口干舌燥
kǒu gān shé zào
  1. 1 lit. dry mouth and tongue (idiom); to talk too much
口口声声
kǒu kou shēng shēng
  1. 1 to keep on saying (idiom); to repeat over and over again
口吐毒焰
kǒu tǔ dú yàn
  1. 1 lit. a mouth spitting with poisonous flames
  2. 2 to speak angrily to sb (idiom)
口是心非
kǒu shì xīn fēi
  1. 1 duplicity
  2. 2 hypocrisy (idiom)
口无择言
kǒu wú zé yán
  1. 1 to say not a word that is not appropriate (idiom)
  2. 2 wrongly used for 口不擇言|口不择言[kǒu bù zé yán]

Sample Sentences

这边厢话题热腾腾的刚出口，那边厢就给你冷冰冰地怼回来了。无论什么时候，胆敢摆出一副苦口婆心的架势，得到的将会是尴尬而不失礼貌的微笑。
zhè biānxiāng huàtí rè téngténg de gāng chūkǒu ，nà biānxiāng jiù gěi nǐ lěng bīng bīng de duǐ huílai le 。wúlùn shénme shíhou ，dǎngǎn bǎi chū yī fù kǔkǒupóxīn de jiàshi ，dédào de jiāng huì shì gāngà ér bù shī lǐmào de wēixiào 。
This side just warmed up the topic, that side already retorted coldly. Whenever you dare to make a didactic gesture, you will get a polite and awkward smile.
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啊，好伤心，我的小心脏有点承受不起，唉，不过忠言逆耳，良药苦口，我接受你的建议，含胸驼背真毁形象、也损自信。
ā ，hǎo shāngxīn ，wǒ de xiǎo xīnzàng yǒudiǎnr chéngshòu bù qǐ ，ài ，bùguò zhōngyánnìěr ，liángyàokǔkǒu ，wǒ jiēshòu nǐ de jiànyì ，hánxiōng tuóbèi zhēn huǐ xíngxiàng 、yě sǔn zìxìn 。
Ah, I'm so hurt. My little heart can't take it. Ah, but I guess loyal words jar on the ear and frank criticism is hard to swallow. I accept your suggestions, sucking in my chest and hunching my back is ruining my image, and damaging my self-confidence.
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忠言逆耳，良药苦口，你不喜欢，我也没办法。
zhōngyánnìěr ，liángyàokǔkǒu ，nǐ bù xǐhuan ，wǒ yě méi bànfǎ 。
Just because I don't tell you what you want to hear doesn't mean I'm not a good friend. I'm not going to sugarcoat things. If you don't like it, then there's nothing I can do about it.
Go to Lesson