苦しい
くるしい
painful; difficult; tough; hard
JLPT N3 Common word Intermediate Japanese L15
Meanings
I-adjective
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
Suffix, I-adjective
hard to do; unpleasant
Forms
| Plain | Polite | |
|---|---|---|
| Present | 苦しいくるしい | 苦しいですくるしいです |
| Negative | 苦しくないくるしくない | 苦しくないですくるしくないです |
| Past | 苦しかったくるしかった | 苦しかったですくるしかったです |
| Past negative | 苦しくなかったくるしくなかった | 苦しくなかったですくるしくなかったです |
| Te-form | 苦しくてくるしくて |
|---|---|
| Conditional (ば) | 苦しければくるしければ |
| Conditional (たら) | 苦しかったらくるしかったら |
Example sentences
苦しい、やめろ。
It's so painful. Stop it!
-
They were badly off in the village.
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It's hard to get to by bike because it's far away.
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His family is rather badly off.
-
He meditated on his past life of suffering.
More examples (10)
-
People were choking on the gas.
このベルトのせいで腰回りが苦しいわ。
This belt is squishing my waist.
-
It's hard for me to live on my small income.
彼らは苦しい生活に耐えねばならなかった。
They had to endure a hard life.
-
To some life is pleasure, to others suffering.
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Death is preferable to such suffering.
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She could scarcely gasp the words.
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Why is it so difficult to connect with people?
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Nothing is as terrible as losing someone you love in the world.
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Thousands of Americans have a hard time keeping the wolf from the door.