difficult; challenging; straitened circumstances; difficult situation
困 · 7 strokes
Depicts a wooden (木) door frame (囗). Based on the original meaning "doorway, threshold". The meaning later expanded to "obstruct" and "trap".
难 · 10 strokes
Simplified from 難. Phonosemantic compound. 隹 represents the meaning and 堇 represents the sound. The character is based on the original meaning "type of bird", which is unrelated to the modern meaning.