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殘酷

简残酷 · 繁殘酷

Mandarin · pinyin cán kù

cruel; harsh; merciless

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Characters in this entry

殘: Look up this written character
酷: kù · strong, stimulating; very
残: cán · injure, spoil; oppress; broken

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

2–4 · can2 ku4

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

殘酷 · find source passages ↗ · 残酷 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

caan4 huk6

Cantonese word readings for 殘酷. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

adj

cruel; ruthless
difficult and dangerous

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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