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穷思苦想

qióng sī kǔ xiǎngdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
to think hard (idiom) / to give sth much thought
Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-d6e3ac02734e7d21. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

窮思苦想 穷思苦想 [qiong2 si1 ku3 xiang3] /to think hard (idiom)/to give sth much thought/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

Other forms in these source records: 窮思苦想

  • 穷
    qióng

    poor / destitute / to use up / to exhaust / thoroughly / extremely / (coll.) persistently and pointlessly

  • 思
    sī

    to think / to consider

  • 苦
    kǔ

    bitter / hardship / pain / to suffer / to bring suffering to / painstakingly

  • 想
    xiǎng

    to think (about) / to think of / to devise / to think (that) / to believe (that) / to desire / to want (to) / to miss (feel wistful about the absence of)

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.