苛 (kē): severe, exacting
苛 (kē) is a Chinese character meaning “severe.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 艹 (semantic) and 可 (phonetic). It ranks #2795 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 苛 grass. Its radical form 艹 (grass) appears in many related characters such as 花 (huā, flower), 茶 (chá, tea), 菜 (cài, vegetable, dish).
Definitions
- severe
- exacting
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 苛 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 苛刻adjective | kē kè | harsh |
| 苛求verb | kē qiú | demanding |
| 苛责verb | kē zé | to criticize harshly |
| 苛捐杂税phrase | kē juān zá shuì | exorbitant taxation (idiom) |
| 苛性adjective | kē xìng | caustic (chemistry) |
| 严苛adjective | yán kē | severe |
| 苛性钠noun | kē xìng nà | sodium hydroxide NaOH |
| 苛性钾noun | kē xìng jiǎ | caustic potash |
| 苛捐noun | kē juān | exorbitant levies |
苛 appears in 9 compound words: 89 as the first character, 11 as the last, and 0 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 苛 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (1)
Example Sentences
苛字在不同的语境中有不同的用法。
kē zì zài bù tóng de yǔ jìng zhōng yǒu bù tóng de yòng fǎ .
The character "苛" has different usages in different contexts.
这源于榴莲苛刻的储运条件——常温下保鲜期较短,对运输时效、温控和转运流程要求极高。
zhè yuán yú 榴 lián kē kè de chǔ yùn tiáo jiàn — — cháng wēn xià bǎo xiān qī jiào duǎn , duì yùn shū shí xiào , wēn kòng hé zhuǎn yùn liú chéng yāo qiú jí gāo .
This is due to the stringent storage and transportation requirements for durians—they have a short shelf life at room temperature, which places extremely high demands on transportation timelines, temperature control, and transshipment processes.
因为验证和测试的苛刻程度,才真正定义品质 。
yīn wéi yàn zhèng hé cè shì de kē kè chéng dù , cái zhēn zhèng dìng yì pǐn zhì .
It is the rigor of verification and testing that truly defines quality.
为何要对这批古象牙开展严苛的保湿养护工作?
wéi hé yāo duì zhè pī gǔ xiàng yá kāi zhǎn yán kē de bǎo shī yǎng hù gōng zuò ?
Why is it necessary to carry out rigorous moisture-preservation maintenance on this collection of ancient ivory?
换个角度看,我们没有必要去苛责他的口音,或者嘲笑他的野心。
huàn gè jiǎo dù kàn , wǒ men méi yǒu bì yāo qù kē zé tā de kǒu yīn , huò zhě cháo xiào tā de yě xīn .
Looking at it from another perspective, there’s no need for us to criticize his accent or mock his ambition.
也有观众呼吁大家放平心态理性看待作品,不必一味拿巅峰时期的经典来苛求现在的周星驰。
yě yǒu guàn zhòng hū xū dà jiā fàng píng xīn tài lǐ xìng kàn dài zuò pǐn , bù bì yī wèi ná diān fēng shí qī de jīng diǎn lái kē qiú xiàn zài de zhōu xīng chí .
Some viewers have also called on everyone to keep an open mind and view the work rationally, rather than holding the current Stephen Chow to the same exacting standards as the classics from his prime.
我在慢慢习惯这苛刻的气候。
Wǒ zài mànmàn xíguàn zhè kēkè de qìhòu.
I am slowly adjusting to the harsh climate here.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 苛 (kē) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 苛 and 阿?
How many strokes does 苛 have?
What is the radical of 苛?
What are the components of 苛?
What are common words containing 苛?
What characters sound the same as 苛 (kē)?
Is 苛 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 苛 with real-time feedback
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