苦しい (Kurushii) is a Japanese i-adjective meaning “painful, difficult, tough, hard”.
Meanings
- i-adjectivepainful; difficult; tough; hard
- i-adjectivedistressing; (psychologically) difficult; stressful; awkward (e.g. position)
- i-adjectivestraitened (circumstances); tight (financial situation); needy; struggling
- i-adjectivestrained (interpretation, explanation, etc.); lame (e.g. excuse); forced (e.g. smile); far-fetched
- suffix, i-adjectivehard to do; unpleasantafter -masu stem of verb; often ぐるしい
Examples
良薬は口に苦し。
A good medicine tastes bitter.
苦しい、やめろ。
It's so painful. Stop it!
苦しいときの神頼み。
Danger past, God forgotten.
Sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR).