苦
笑

To force a smile in Chinese: 苦笑 (kǔ xiào)

kǔ xiào

to force a smile

HSK 3.0 Levels 7-91 example sentence

Definitions

  1. 1to force a smile
  2. 2a bitter laugh

Stroke order

Watch how to write 苦笑 stroke by stroke.

苦
笑

Zhuyin

This word’s pronunciation in Bopomofo.

Learn how to read Zhuyin

ㄎㄨˇ

kǔ

ㄎ/ kㄨ/ uˇ/ third tone

ㄒㄧㄠˋ

xiào

ㄒ/ xㄧ/ iㄠ/ aoˋ/ fourth tone

Example sentences

See 苦笑 used in real sentences with pinyin and English translations.

  • 听到这个消息，他只能苦笑。

    tīng dào zhè ge xiāo xī， tā zhǐ néng kǔ xiào。

    Hearing the news, he could only manage a bitter smile.

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Related words

笑

xiào

to laugh

苦

kǔ

bitter

笑话

xiào hua

joke

辛苦

xīn kǔ

exhausting

艰苦

jiān kǔ

difficult

刻苦

kè kǔ

hardworking

痛苦

tòng kǔ

pain

微笑

wēi xiào

smile

笑脸

xiào liǎn

smiling face

笑容

xiào róng

smile

笑声

xiào shēng

laughter

嘲笑

cháo xiào

to jeer at

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Levels 7-9 vocabulary list

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