坎坷

bumpy (of a road) / rough (of life) / to be down on one's luck / to be full of frustrations and dashed hopes

pit / threshold / one of the Eight Trigrams 八卦[ba1 gua4], symbolizing water / ☵

old variant of 坎[kan3] / pit / hole

uneven (path) / unfortunate (in life)

potholed and bumpy road (idiom); fig. full of disappointment and dashed hopes

full of trouble and misfortune (usu. referring to someone's life)

to have a tough life / to meet much adversity in one's life