苦しい

From Old Japanese. First cited to the Nihon Shoki of 720 CE,^[1] and likely extant earlier as the intransitive verb 苦しむ (kurushimu, “to suffer, to be stressed out”) was first cited to the Kojiki of 712 CE.^[1]

Analyzable as a compound of bound morpheme ⟨kuru-⟩ (indicates stress or temper) +‎ ⟨-si⟩ (adjectivizing suffix, gives object the possession of the adjective's quality), ultimately from Proto-Japonic *kuru. Compare 狂う (kuruu, “to be mad, to get angry”).^[2] Compare also Miyako 苦 (guri) against Miyako 悲す (kanasu, Japanese 悲しい (kanashii, “sad”)).

The modern form kurushii is derived from the 連体形 (rentaikei, “attributive form”) of Early Middle Japanese adjective 苦し (kurushi), with the medial /-k-/ falling out.

• (Tokyo) くるしい (Nakadaka – )
• IPA^(key):

苦(くる)しい • (kurushii) -i (adverbial 苦(くる)しく (kurushiku))

1. physically painful, agonizing
   • 1999 October 15, Rumiko Takahashi, “地(じ)念(ねん)児(じ)”, in [犬](いぬ)[夜](や)[叉](しゃ), volume 12 (fiction), Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN, page 62:

     雲母(きらら)…苦(くる)しいの？

     Kirara… Kurushii no?

     Kirara… Does it still hurt?

2. difficult, strenuous, mentally trying
3. mentally agonizing

   会(あ)えないなんて苦(くる)しいよ

   aenai nante kurushii yo

   Being unable to be by your side is painful.

4. tight (budget etc.), straitened
5. forced

• 2002, Ineko Kondō; Fumi Takano; Mary E Althaus; et. al., Shogakukan Progressive Japanese-English Dictionary, Third Edition, Tokyo: Shōgakukan, →ISBN.