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酷

Mandarin · pinyin kù

ruthless
strong (e.g. of wine)
(loanword) cool
hip

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酷: kù · strong, stimulating; very

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

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Mandarin tones

4 · ku4

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1character link10same-tone records

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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.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 5 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

huk6

Cantonese word readings for 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.

character · Etymology 1

(literary, of alcohol) strong; intense
cruel; brutal; savage
extremely; to an extreme degree

character · Etymology 2

(Mandarin, slang) cool; awesome

character · Etymology 3

(Hokkien, business) to drive a hard bargain; to economically take advantage of; to exploit economically; to penny-pinch; to profiteer; to swindle; to cheat; to be stingy/miserly with (such as overpricing to favor sellers or undervaluing to favor buyers)

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

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