困窮

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 困窮 is read as こんきゅう and is a noun and する verb for poverty or serious hardship that makes maintaining everyday life difficult.
• Basic usage: A family's financial hardship appears in 生活に困窮する, while students needing support appear in 困窮する学生.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Serious difficulty in daily life
  • It denotes sustained hardship affecting livelihood and living conditions, not merely a temporary inconvenience.
• Difference from 困る
  • 困る broadly covers many kinds of trouble or embarrassment, whereas 困窮 focuses on severe material or financial hardship.