Definition
苦活 refers to physically demanding, low-paying, or unpleasant manual labor — the kind of work that is 'bitter' (苦) to do. It's a noun, not a verb, so you say 干苦活 ('do bitter work') rather than treating it as an action itself. The word carries a connotation of hardship and exploitation, often used in contexts of migrant workers, factory jobs, or traditional trades.
n
hardlow-paying manual laborbitter work
Examples
- 苦活，。Tā měitiān gàn kǔ huó, zhèng de qián què hěn shǎo.He does bitter work every day but earns very little money.
- 苦活。Hěn duō nóngmíngōng zài gōngdì shàng zuò kǔ huó.Many migrant workers do hard labor on construction sites.
- 苦活。Tā bù xiǎng ràng háizi jiānglái yě gàn kǔ huó.She doesn't want her children to do bitter work in the future either.
Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.