煎熬 jiān’áo to suffer
to suffer; to torture; to torment; ordeal; suffering; torture; torment
How to remember 煎熬: 煎 to fry in fat or oil + 熬 to boil = to suffer.
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How it is used
- Prolonged torment - being 'fried and boiled' - 等待的日子是一种煎熬 (děngdài de rìzi shì yì zhǒng jiān'áo) the waiting was pure torment.
- Stresses drawn-out mental/emotional suffering, unlike a sharp one-off 痛 (tòng, pain); often a noun ('an ordeal').
- Literary, emotive register; the vivid cooking imagery is the point.