坷 (kě) is a Chinese character meaning “uneven”. It is written from 土 (earth; soil) and 可 (can; may; approve), side by side, and takes 8 strokes.
Build the character for “bumpy, rough going”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
土 + 可
Left–right structure
Structure from: 说文解字（坷，坎坷也。从土可聲）
Memory aid
Ground (土) on the left, 可 "can" on the right: earth that can throw you off — a road too bumpy to walk straight. 可 is also the sound part: kě → kě.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
8 strokes
In real words
- 坎坷kǎn kěbumpy; rough going; full of setbacks坷 = kěspoken askán kě
Go deeper
All readings
bumpy, uneven
uneven; bumpy — used in 坎坷 (a rough road; a life full of setbacks)
不平坦。用于「坎坷」，指路面高低不平，也比喻人生不顺、多波折。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 坎坷kǎn kěbumpy; rough going; full of setbacks坷 = kěspoken askán kě
Rare readings, not taught: kē
Sound component
可 family exact
Easy to confuse with
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 坷 mean?
坷 (kě) means uneven; bumpy — used in 坎坷 (a rough road; a life full of setbacks).
How do you pronounce 坷?
It is pronounced kě.
What parts is 坷 made of?
土 (earth; soil) and 可 (can; may; approve), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字（坷，坎坷也。从土可聲）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 坷 have?
8. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 坷?
土. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 坷?
Common ones are 坎坷. The reading of 坷 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.