切せつない vs. 苦くるしい：Do You Know Which Should We Use?

When looking up both “切せつない” and “苦くるしい” in your dictionary, they would be “Painful”, so you might’ve got confused about them. Let me introduce how you correctly figure them out today!

切せつない(setsunai)

Painful / Feel So Sad / Miss

“切せつない” means “Painful, Feel so sad and Miss” which has been often used after breaking up with your partner and when your friends left your home, unlike “苦くるしい”. Everyone could use “切せつない” as casual, polite and formal such “切せつないよ。(I feel so sad.)” as casual and “切せつないです。(I feel so sad.)” as polite and formal.

Example

切せつないよー。 (This is so painful.) (好难过啊。) (안타깝네.) (Buồn quá.)

切せつないわー。 (I feel so sad.) (心里太难受了啊。) (안타깝군요.) (Đau lòng quá.)

もうそろそろ帰かえるね。 (I’ll be going now.) (差不多该回去了哦。) (이제 슬슬 돌아갈게.) (Tớ sắp phải về rồi.)

えー！？切せつないわー。 (Wow!? I’m gonna to miss you.) (啊！？好让人难过啊。) (아, 안타깝군요.) (Ơ!Buồn vậy!)

苦くるしい (kurushii)

Painful / Hard etc…

“苦くるしい” means “Painful, Hard, etc” and which has a lot of meaning such as after breaking up with your partner, “胸むねが苦くるしい。(It’s breaking my heart.)” has been used and after eating a lot, “お腹なかが苦くるしい。(I’m so bloated.)” and “鼻はなが詰つまってて苦くるしい。(I can’t breathe.)”, etc. Everyone could use “苦くるしい” as casual, polite and formal such as “お腹なかが苦くるしいよ。(I’m so bloated.)” as casual and “お腹なかが苦くるしいです。(I’m so bloated.)” as polite and formal.

Example

(恋心こいごごろで)胸むねが苦くるしい。 (It’s breaking my heart.) (（因为恋爱）我心情郁结。) ((사랑에) 마음이 괴로워.) ((Vì yêu) Đau lòng quá.)

あ〜食たべ過すぎてお腹なかが苦くるしい。 (Oh, I’m stuffed and so bloated.) (哦〜我吃得太多了，我的肚子真难受。) (아~ 너무 많이 먹어서 배가 아파.) (A~ Ăn nhiều quá nên tức bụng quá.)

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愛犬あいけんが死しんじゃって苦くるしいよ。 (Losing a beloved dog feels painful.) (我的爱犬死了，我好难过。) (애완견이 죽어버려서 괴로워.) (Con chó của tôi mất rồi buồn quá.)

少すくない給料きゅうりょうで暮くらしてくのは苦くるしいよ。 (It’s hard to live on my small salary.) (靠微薄的工资生活是很痛苦的。) (적은 월급으로 생활하는 것은 힘들어~.) (Sống với một mức lương thấp trật vật quá đi.)