苦命

kǔmìng

adjective #34,266

Meanings

1 unfortunate
2 ill-fated
3 having a hard lot in life
4 miserable fate

Characters

bitter, hardship

Examples

她是个苦命的孩子，从小没有父母。

Tā shì ge kǔmìng de háizi, cóng xiǎo méiyǒu fùmǔ.

She's a poor unlucky child — orphaned from a young age.

他常常感叹自己苦命。

Tā chángcháng gǎntàn zìjǐ kǔmìng.

He often laments his bitter fate.

Tips

culture

Rooted in folk fatalism — a 苦命 person is felt to have been dealt a bad 命 (mìng, fate decreed at birth). Common in family dramas and older relatives' speech. Compare 命苦 (mìng kǔ), the same idea reversed.

Stroke Order

苦 kǔ

命 mìng