HSK 6 · Emotions

忧郁 yōuyù “melancholy” in Chinese

Traditional 憂鬱

What 忧郁 means

  1. melancholy
  2. depressed
  3. sullen
  4. dejected

How to say 忧郁

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale忧yōu1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale郁yù4th tone, falling

忧郁 in a sentence

  1. 今天我很忧郁。

    Jīntiān wǒ hěn yōuyù.

    I’m feeling melancholy today.

    Sentence #1508055 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

  2. 我每个星期一都觉得很忧郁。

    Wǒ měi ge xīngqīyī dōu juéde hěn yōuyù.

    I always feel down on Mondays.

    Sentence #926697 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

  3. 她偶尔有忧郁的心情。

    Tā ǒu'ěr yǒu yōuyù de xīnqíng.

    She sometimes feels low.

    Sentence #908306 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

How 忧郁 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 忧 (yōu) with each of its parts in a different colour
忧yōuto worry
  • 忄heart form of 心 · xīnMeaning part
  • 尤especially · yóuSound part

忄 hints at the meaning (heart); 尤 (yóu) hints at the sound. Compare it with yōu.

The character 郁 (yù) with each of its parts in a different colour
郁yùstrongly fragrant
  • 有to have · yǒuSound part
  • 阝placeMeaning part

阝 hints at the meaning (place); 有 (yǒu) hints at the sound. Compare it with yù.

How to write 忧郁

忧 7 strokes · 郁 8 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

忧郁 (yōuyù) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 忧郁 (yōuyù). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 忧郁

Words with 忧

后顾之忧hòugùzhīyōu · worries back home无忧无虑wúyōuwúlǜ · carefree

More words: Emotions & Attitudes

疑惑yíhuò · doubt毅力yìlì · perseverance意志yìzhì · will诱惑yòuhuò · to tempt冤枉yuānwang · to wrong (someone)欲望yùwàng · desire在意zàiyì · to care about着迷zháomí · to be fascinated

FAQs

忧郁 (yōuyù) means “melancholy” or “depressed”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it yōuyù: yōu with a 1st tone, then yù with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 忧郁 is written 憂鬱. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type youyu with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 忧郁 from the suggestions. Typing youyu into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
忧郁 is an HSK 6 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

Turn words into conversations

A dictionary gives you the words. A native teacher shows you how to use them. Start with a free 30-minute intro call.

Book a free intro call

Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.