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苦盡甘來

简苦尽甘来 · 繁苦盡甘來

Mandarin · pinyin kǔ jìn gān lái

bitterness finishes, sweetness begins (idiom); the hard times are over, the good times just beginning

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Characters in this entry

苦: kǔ · bitter; hardship, suffering
盡: Look up this written character
甘: gān · sweetness; sweet, tasty
來: lái · come, coming; return, returning
尽: jǐn · exhaust, use up; deplete
来: lái · come, coming; return, returning

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

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Mandarin tones

3–4–1–2 · ku3 jin4 gan1 lai2

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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.

苦盡甘來 · find source passages ↗ · 苦尽甘来 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

fu2 zeon6 gam1 loi4

Cantonese word readings for 苦盡甘來. 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.

phrase

(idiomatic) the difficult time has passed and the pleasant or joyful time comes

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

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