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dukkhe

dukkha

masc acc pl of dukkha (adj); nt acc pl of dukkha (adj); masc loc sg of dukkha (adj); nt loc sg of dukkha (adj); …

1. uncomfortable; unpleasant
2. painful
3. discomfort; suffering; unease; unpleasantness; something unsatisfactory; trouble; a bummer; stress
4. pain; physical discomfort

Built from

• du(r)- — prefix · bad, hard
  Prefix meaning difficult or gone wrong. Cognate with Greek dys- (dysfunction). The sense shifts from physical badness to moral or existential suffering.
• kha — root · hollow, cavity, space
  From √khan "to dig, hollow out". The concrete image of an empty or deficient space underlies the sense of discomfort and lack. Related to Sanskrit kha and ultimately PIE *ghen- "to hollow"; compare Latin cavus and English cave.

Etymology. du(r)- (bad, hard, gone wrong) + kha (from √khan "to dig", hence a hollow, cavity, or poor space). The word's concrete image is a bad or difficult hollow—an empty, deficient state. Cognate prefix: Greek dys- (dysfunction, dystopia). The root kha is related to Sanskrit kha and ultimately to the PIE root *ghen- "to strike, hollow out"; compare Latin cavis "hollow" and English cave.

Meanings from the Digital Pāḷi Dictionary; morphology and etymology by Claude.

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