苛刻
kē kè · HSK 7
harsh
🔪 苛 harsh + 刻 to carve = demands that cut into you; severe, exacting
刻 also appears in 雕刻 (to carve/engrave), so 苛刻 is harshness that cuts deep — used for strict rules, demanding bosses, and unforgiving standards. Sound: kē kè, two clipped beats.
刻 — knife radical 刂 + 亥 (phonetic)
A semantic-phonetic compound. The right side 亥 supplies the sound, while the knife radical 刂 on the right gives the meaning, since 刻 originally referred to carving or engraving with a blade. From 'to carve' it extended to marking time notches on a sundial, hence the modern sense of 'a moment' or 'quarter hour'.