過酷

• 読み: かこく
• ローマ字: kakoku
• 漢字の分解: 過 (ka) — excess, surpass, over; 酷 (koku) — cruel, harsh, severe
• 発音: /ka.ko.kɯ/

意味

Severe; harsh; cruel; rigorous. Describes conditions, treatment, or circumstances that are extremely demanding, merciless, or beyond what is reasonably endurable.

A na-adjective used to describe environments or treatment that goes beyond normal difficulty into the realm of the unreasonably demanding or cruel. Frequently appears in discussions of labour conditions, nature's harshness, competitive settings, or historical events. Stronger than 厳しい (strict/severe) in its implication of excess and cruelty.

例文

1. 過酷な訓練に耐えた選手だけが代表チームに選ばれる。
2. 極地の過酷な環境では、特殊な装備なしに生存できない。
3. 過酷な労働条件が改善されなければ、社員の離職は続くだろう。

使い方ガイド

場面: training, nature, labour, history

トーン: serious

起源と歴史

Sino-Japanese compound of 過 (excessive, surpassing a limit) and 酷 (cruel, harsh). Together they intensify the notion of harshness to an extreme degree — not merely strict but mercilessly so.

文化的背景

時代: Modern

世代: Adults

社会的背景: Universal