# 苦涩 (kǔsè)

In Mandarin Chinese, 苦涩 (kǔsè) means “bitter; pained”. It was previously included at level 6 of the HSK 2.0 exam.

- Meaning: bitter; pained
- Pinyin: kǔsè (ku3 se4)
- Traditional: 苦澀
- Not in HSK 3.0
- HSK 2.0 · Level 6

## Examples

- 听到这个消息，她露出了苦涩的笑容。
  Tīngdào zhège xiāoxi, tā lộchū le kǔsè de xiàoróng.
  Hearing the news, she gave a pained smile.

## Characters

- [苦](https://hanziro.com/word/ku-bitter/) (kǔ): bitter; hardship
- 涩 (sè): astringent; tart

https://hanziro.com/word/ku-se-bitter/

Dictionary data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Audio: audio-cmn (CC BY-SA).