DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT
窮
简 穷 · 繁 窮Mandarin · pinyin qióng
Meanings
- poor
- destitute
- to use up
- to exhaust
- thoroughly
- extremely
- (coll.) persistently and pointlessly
Characters in this entry
Explore the spelling
Mandarin tones
2 · qiong2
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
Connected dictionary
1character link24same-tone records
Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.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.
Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 15 senses · 1 Cantonese reading
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
kung4
Cantonese word readings for 窮. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.
CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack
Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section
Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.
character
- to exhaust
- to thoroughly investigate
- to be in the wrong and unable to argue further
- to be in dire straits; to suffer from lack of opportunity, support, etc.
- poor; destitute; impoverished
- to be exhausted; to be used up
- remote; out-of-the-way
- extremely
- thoroughly
- excessively; inappropriately attentive to details; snobbishly; frivolously
- 69th tetragram of the Taixuanjing; "exhaustion, tiredness" (𝍊)
- (Northern Wu) very; quite
- name of an ancient state
- (Hokkien) to gather together (remaining or scattered money, goods, or other items)
- (Hokkien) to sort out; to inventory; to tidy up (money, goods, or other items)
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack