How to Write 苛 (kē) — Meaning “harsh / severe”

Imagine a harsh plant (艹) that can (可) hurt you when you touch it. This mental image connects the grass radical and the sound component to the meaning 'harsh or severe'. Visualizing a painful plant helps you recall the character easily.

Make sure the grass radical 艹 is wide enough to cover about one-third of the character's height, and keep the bottom part 可 centered below it. A common mistake is writing the grass radical too narrow or making the horizontal stroke of 可 too short, which unbalances the character.

苛 has the bottom component 可, while 兹 (zī) has 玄 below and means 'this' or 'now', and 艻 (lè) has 力 below and is a rare plant name. Visually, the bottoms differ clearly: 可 looks like 'can', 玄 is more complex, and 力 is a single stroke. Remember that 苛's bottom matches its pronunciation kē.

苛 appears in formal words like 苛刻 (harsh and demanding), 苛求 (to make excessive demands), and 苛责 (to criticize severely). It is not used in everyday conversation but is common in written criticism, laws, or descriptions of strict conditions. The character always carries a negative tone.

Common words containing 苛 include: 苛刻 (kē kè) — harsh / demanding; 苛求 (kē qiú) — to make excessive demands; 苛责 (kē zé) — to criticize severely.