dukkha means the three main types of pain, suffering, or stress: physical and mental, impermanence, and conditioned states. One of the three marks of existence. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 85 out of 100.
dukkha is pronounced /ˈdʊkə/.
Why “dukkha” is a great word
DUKKHA — [Noun] In Buddhist thought, the inherent stress and pervasive unsatisfactoriness of all conditioned, impermanent existence, one of the three universal marks of reality. It is a transliteration of Pali dukkha (Sanskrit duḥkha), commonly analyzed as from dus- ("bad, difficult") + stha ("standing, state"), literally meaning 'ill-being' or 'unsatisfactory state'. Unlike "suffering," which suggests acute pain, or "sukha," its doctrinal opposite for ease, dukkha is the subtle, inescapable friction of being itself. It is the ache in a pleasure as it fades, the quiet abrasion of waiting for a train that never comes, and the specific emptiness that follows a fulfilled desire—the first noble truth written into the fabric of a world built on shifting ground.
noun
- The three main types of pain, suffering, or stress: physical and mental, impermanence, and conditioned states. One of the three marks of existence.