良药苦口 liáng yào kǔ kǒu

good medicine tastes bitter; hard truth hurts

Word data

HSK Not in HSK
Frequency Unknown

Definitions

  1. 1. good medicine tastes bitter (idiom); fig. frank criticism is hard to swallow

Characters

Character Meaning
良 liáng HSK 5
good; very; very much
药 yào HSK 2
medicine; drug
苦 kǔ HSK 4
bitter; to suffer; hardship
口 kǒu HSK 3
mouth