| 艱 | [ jiān ] difficult, hard, hardship |
| 艱巨 | [ jiān jù ] arduous, terrible (task), very difficult, formidable |
| 艱巨性 | [ jiān jù xìng ] arduousness, formidability, difficulty |
| 艱深 | [ jiān shēn ] abstruse, complicated |
| 艱深晦澀 | [ jiān shēn huì sè ] abstruse and unfathomable (idiom) |
| 艱苦 | [ jiān kǔ ] difficult, hard, arduous |
| 艱苦奮鬥 | [ jiān kǔ fèn doù ] to struggle arduously |
| 艱苦樸素 | [ jiān kǔ pǔ sù ] leading a plain, hardworking life (idiom) |
| 艱辛 | [ jiān xīn ] hardships, arduous, difficult |
| 艱險 | [ jiān xiǎn ] difficult and dangerous, hardships and perils |
| 艱難 | [ jiān nán ] difficult, hard, challenging |
| 艱難險阻 | [ jiān nán xiǎn zǔ ] untold dangers and difficulties (idiom) |
| ⇒ 丁艱 | [ dīng jiān ] (literary) to be in mourning after the death of a parent |
| ⇒ 不避艱險 | [ bù bì jiān xiǎn ] shrink or flinch from no difficulty or danger, make light of difficulties and dangers |
| ⇒ 人艱不拆 | [ rén jiān bù chaī ] life is hard enough as it is; don't burst my bubble (Internet slang) |
| ⇒ 步履維艱 | [ bù lǚ weí jiān ] to have difficulty walking (idiom), to walk with difficulty |
| ⇒ 舉步維艱 | [ jǔ bù weí jiān ] to make progress only with great difficulty (idiom) |