苦心 kǔxīn painstaking effort
painstaking effort; to take a lot of trouble; laborious at pains
How to remember 苦心: 苦 bitter + 心 heart = painstaking effort.
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How it is used
- Painstaking effort / careful thought put into something - 一片苦心 (yí piàn kǔxīn) well-meaning painstaking effort; 苦心经营 (kǔxīn jīngyíng) to run/build with great pains.
- Stresses the trouble and heart someone quietly invests, often for another's sake and unappreciated.
- 白费苦心 = one's efforts are wasted; 苦口婆心 (patient earnest advice) is related.