苦しい

Meaning

1. adj-i
   painful; difficult; tough; hard
2. adj-i
   distressing; (psychologically) difficult; stressful; awkward (e.g. position)
3. adj-i
   straitened (circumstances); tight (financial situation); needy; struggling
4. adj-i
   strained (interpretation, explanation, etc.); lame (e.g. excuse); forced (e.g. smile); far-fetched
5. sufadj-i
   hard to do; unpleasant

Example sentences

• 苦しかったらギブアップして、お姉さんのお願いを聞きなさいっ。

  If you can't take it, give up and do what I, your older sister, asked of you.

• 踊り子の優雅さは懸命な練習、汗と苦しさから生まれるのです。

  Their grace comes from hard work, sweat, and pain.

• 非常に苦しいさなかにも、笑うことは、感情の激しい人には容易にできることではない。

  Being able to smile while in great distress is not duck soup for a passionate individual.