spicy, bitter, hot, acrid
辛 centers on a sharp, piercing sensation: spicy heat, bitterness, or acrid taste, and by extension emotional harshness or difficulty.
辛 is a pictograph of a tattooing needle or a tool for punishment, later associated with sharp, bitter, or painful sensations. The modern form retains the pointed, angular shape.
The shape looks like a sharp needle or a pointed tool. Imagine a needle pricking your tongue, leaving a spicy, bitter, or acrid taste.
For シン, imagine a sharp needle piercing your skin: the thin, sharp pain cues シン (shin), like the shin bone being pricked.
spicy; hot
painful; bitter; heart-breaking; difficult (emotionally)
difficult to ... (physically or emotionally); hard to ...
8th in rank; eighth sign of the Chinese calendar
capsicum (Capsicum annuum, esp. the cultivated chili peppers); chili pepper (chile, chilli); cayenne; red pepper
dry taste (e.g. sake, wine)
barely; narrowly; only just; with difficulty
patience; endurance; perseverance
spice; spices; condiment
bitter (e.g. criticism); sharp; biting; severe; scathing; harsh
extremely spicy; fiery hot
shiokara; paste made from salted fermented seafood (squid, fish entrails, etc.)
hot taste; sharp taste; pungent taste; salty taste
mustard
tough (world); hard (times); cold
sweetness and saltiness; salted and sweetened taste
pent-up resentment; grudges and hard feelings
hardships; privation
salty (taste); briny
barely; narrowly; with difficulty