冷酷

Pattern visualization

Examples

1. 他冷酷无情地拒绝了她。▶ —
   He coldly and heartlessly rejected her.
2. 战争的现实非常冷酷。▶ —
   The reality of war is very cruel.

Collocations

Mnemonic

冷 lěng "cold" + 酷 kù "cruel, harsh": cold and harsh, i.e. cold-hearted, cruel. Same as the Korean word naeng-hok (冷酷). A merciless, unfeeling character or situation (冷酷无情 cold and heartless). 酷 means "harsh", but it also has a slang sense "cool" (a phonetic loan of English cool), so mind the context.

Related

Quick check

1. Which is true about the character 酷?

   • besides "harsh", it has a slang sense "cool"
   • it only means "cold"
   • it means "warm"
   • it means "fast"