棘手

Chinese

		thorns	hand; convenient; ‑er
simp. and trad. (棘手)		棘	手
alternative forms		撠手 Cantonese

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): jíshǒu

  (Zhuyin): ㄐㄧˊ ㄕㄡˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): kik¹ sau², gik¹ sau²
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): kek-chhiú / kiak-chhiú

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)
    • Hanyu Pinyin: jíshǒu
    • Zhuyin: ㄐㄧˊ ㄕㄡˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: jíshǒu
    • Wade–Giles: chi²-shou³
    • Yale: jí-shǒu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jyishoou
    • Palladius: цзишоу (czišou)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕi³⁵ ʂoʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
    • Homophones:

      [Show/Hide]
      edit edit 棘手 疾首

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: kik¹ sau², gik¹ sau²
    • Yale: kīk sáu, gīk sáu
    • Cantonese Pinyin: kik⁷ sau², gik⁷ sau²
    • Guangdong Romanization: kig¹ seo², gig¹ seo²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʰɪk̚⁵ sɐu̯³⁵/, /kɪk̚⁵ sɐu̯³⁵/

Note:

• kik1 sau2 — colloquial;
• gik1 sau2 — literary.

• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: kek-chhiú
    • Tâi-lô: kik-tshiú
    • Phofsit Daibuun: kekchiuo
    • IPA (Xiamen): /kiɪk̚³²⁻⁴ t͡sʰiu⁵³/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /kiɪk̚³²⁻⁵ t͡sʰiu⁵³/
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: kiak-chhiú
    • Tâi-lô: kiak-tshiú
    • Phofsit Daibuun: kiakchiuo
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /kiak̚⁵⁻²⁴ t͡sʰiu⁵⁵⁴/

Adjective

棘手

1. (literally) thorny
2. (figuratively) difficult to handle; thorny; troublesome; knotty; prickly; intractable

   一個非常棘手的事情 [MSC, trad.]
   一个非常棘手的事情 [MSC, simp.]

   yīge fēicháng jíshǒu de shìqíng [Pinyin]

   a very tricky thing

Synonyms

• (difficult to handle):

• 傷腦／伤脑 (shāngnǎo) (informal)
• 傷腦筋／伤脑筋 (shāng nǎojīn) (informal)
• 刺手 (cìshǒu)
• 囉嗦／啰嗦 (luōsuo)
• 扎手 (zhāshǒu)
• 歹紡／歹纺 (Xiamen Hokkien, Taiwanese Hokkien)
• 歹辦／歹办 (Quanzhou Hokkien, Xiamen Hokkien)
• 䆀紡／䆀纺 (Zhangzhou Hokkien)
• 䆀辦／䆀办 (Zhangzhou Hokkien)
• 累贅／累赘
• 纏手／缠手 (chánshǒu) (figurative)
• 費事／费事 (fèishì)
• 辣手 (làshǒu)
• 鑿手／凿手 (Hokkien)
• 難辦／难办 (nánbàn)
• 麻煩／麻烦 (máfan)