困

困 · kùn

to surround, besiege; to be surrounded; difficult; hexagram ䷮

Entry ↗

Meanings & readings

Meaning & readings

to surround, besiege; to be surrounded; difficult; hexagram ䷮

Mandarin
kùn
Cantonese
kwan3

Unihan definitions and selected character readings. Read the word to establish its pronunciation in context.

Readings in Japanese, Korean & Vietnamese

Readings recorded for 困 in other language traditions. These are character-level records, not word translations or interchangeable pronunciations.

Japanese 日本語

Grouped by the source’s kana notation; no frequency ranking is implied.

On’yomi · katakana

コン

Kun’yomi · hiragana

こまるくるしむ

Katakana generally indicates on’yomi; hiragana generally indicates kun’yomi. The source does not identify everyday, rare, historical or name use per reading. Kana strings are preserved, including any written endings; consult a Japanese word entry for actual use.

Source record & scope

Unicode Unihan 17.0.0 · kJapanese ↗ · provisional property

コン こまる くるしむ

Korean 한국어

Hanja readings · Hangul

곤

Source codes are separated below. They are neither sounds nor tones; a character reading alone does not specify a whole word’s pronunciation.

Reading sources explained
곤
KS X 1001 (0) · Educational Hanja (E)
Source record & scope

Unicode Unihan 17.0.0 · kHangul ↗ · provisional property

곤:0E

Vietnamese Tiếng Việt

Character readings · Quốc ngữ

khốn

Vietnamese readings associated with this Han character. This field alone does not establish word meanings, current usage, or a complete account of Hán-Nôm reading traditions.

Source record & scope

Unicode Unihan 17.0.0 · kVietnamese ↗ · provisional property

khốn

Form & structure

Writing & identity

Unicode
U+56F0
Radical
囗 · 31
Strokes
7 · Unihan
Residual
4

Source record · Unihan 17.0. Individual senses and historical claims have not yet been reviewed by zimai.

Stroke order

7 strokes
困
Strokes
7
Convention
PRC · Make Me a Hanzi

7 strokes in writing order. Play to watch them, or Step through one at a time.

Modern stroke order; regional conventions can differ. Stroke medians: Make Me a Hanzi via HanziLookupJS, drawn as an even pen line.

Graphical structure

⿴囗木(GHTJKPV)
How to read these symbols

⿰ left–right · ⿱ above–below · ⿻ overlap. Dotted boxes indicate positions, not missing characters. Each symbol describes the components that follow it; nested symbols describe a component in more detail. Source codes identify alternative analyses, not a writing sequence or an etymology.

BabelStone IDS · 2025-06-27. Region tags are preserved; 〾 marks approximation and {n} identifies an unencoded source component. These describe graphical structure, not historical derivation.

Words & connections

Words using 困

Character connections

2 catalogue records include this shape in their first retained IDS. Graphical containment does not imply shared etymology.

History & distinctions

Related forms

睏

Unihan traditional/simplified variant properties. Conversion may depend on context.

Historical readings

Middle Chinese
khwonH · 苦悶 反切 · #2613

Guangyun-based transcriptions · PHONO-ML · CC BY 4.0. These describe historical reading categories, not modern word pronunciation.

Source row & reading categories

CSV line 14655 · khwonH = 臻合一去魂溪

Automatically generated in the source dataset; the authors checked a subset and acknowledge possible errors. All source readings are retained separately. Notation & method ↗

Sources & reference

Evidence & next depth

Source editions & exact scope ↗
Retained Unihan properties
kMandarin
kùn
kCantonese
kwan3
kDefinition
to surround, besiege; to be surrounded; difficult; hexagram ䷮
kTotalStrokes
7
kRSUnicode
31.4
kTraditionalVariant
U+56F0 U+774F
kSimplifiedVariant
U+56F0
kGradeLevel
3
kTGH
2013:734

Readings across dictionaries

Hanyu Da Zidian
kùn 10714.070
Tongyong Guifan · 2013
kùn 204.160,204.170
Small numbers locate dictionary entries; 粵 introduces Cantonese. Includes rare or historical readings. Source notation ↗

Reference desk

Sentences in context

Find examples using 困 ↗

The attributed sentence collection is still small; this spelling has no retained example yet.

Study this character

Structure & connections

0.10
49dictionary records using 困3forms using this shape1attributed sound links
⿴ Full surround

Shape description
囗 surrounds 木 · the same shape in all seven regional standards (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Vietnam)
Source notation ^⿴囗木$(GHTJKPV)
BabelStone · 2025-06-27. Encoded shape and region tags; graphical analysis does not establish historical function.

Decompose & trace ↗Browse all 49 word records ↗Explore sound families ↗Component search ↗
Retained descriptions & scope

^⿴囗木$(GHTJKPV)

All alternatives are retained. Only the first description drives component search and graphical links. Counts describe this snapshot, not frequency. Evidence and method.