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苦頭

简苦头 · 繁苦頭

Mandarin · pinyin kǔ tou

sufferings

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Characters in this entry

苦: kǔ · bitter; hardship, suffering
頭: tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss
头: tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss

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

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Mandarin tones

3–5 · ku3 tou5

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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.

苦頭 · find source passages ↗ · 苦头 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

fu2 tau4

Cantonese word readings for 苦頭. 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.

noun

(colloquial) slight bitter taste
(informal) suffering; setback; misery

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

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