Taxonomy of meanings for 愁:　　

  • 愁 chóu (OC: dzriw MC: dʐiu) 士尤切 平 廣韻：【憂也悲也苦也士尤切二 】
    • SAD
      • nabpsychmelancholy sadness
      • vadNsad, depressed, grievous
      • vadVsombrely
      • vibe worried and sad
      • vt+V/Nfeel depressed to V/about V-ing
      • vtoNcausativesadden, make depressed
      • vtoNpsychfeel depressed by
      • about death>MOURNING
        • about future>WORRY
          • vifeel anxious and worried
          • vt(oN)worry about or be sad about a contextually determinate matter N
          • vtoNfeel deeply anxious and intensely worried (typically about a current present situation)
        • profound and lasting>MELANCHOLY
          • nabpsychmelancholy
        • intensely directed against someone>ANGER
            • lasting, aggressive> RESENT
      • 愁 ｑｉａｏ３《集韻》子小切，上小精。
      • 愁 ｊｉｕ１《集韻》將由切，平尤精。

        Additional information about 愁

        說文解字:

          Criteria
        • WORRY

          1. The current general term for all sorts of troubled states of mind, as well as reasons for such states of mind, is yōu 憂 (ant. xǐ 喜 "be well pleased" and lè 樂 "feel deep joy"), and this word may freely refer to troublesome matters of the present or of the future, and the word typiccally refers to a termporary state of hightened awareness of what is troublesome and concern about what should be done about it.

          2. Lu �慮 (ant. wàng 忘 "refuse to think about, ignore") refers to active reflection upon what one is worried about.

          3. Fán 煩 (ant. jìng 靜 "feel completely at peace") refers to a passive reaction of unsettled anxiousness about something other than oneself.

          4. Zào 躁 (ant. dìng 定 "be well-settled and unruffled") refers to the state of being flustered, restless and upset by worries.

          5. Jí 急 (ant. ān 安 "feel comfortable") refers to urgent and particularly acute temporary worries about something present or immediately imminent.

          6. Jí 疾 (ant. níng 寧 "feel at peace") refers to intense and profound worries about something present (and these worries may or may not be lasting).

          7. Huàn 患 (ant. lè 樂 "feel deeply happy with") refers to intense worry or concern about the possible future effects of something or the possibility of events in the future.

          8. Āi 哀 (ant. lè 樂 "feel perfectly happy with"), when it refers to intense worry rather than grief, connotes despondency and hopelessness and not just worry over possibilities.

          9. Chóu 愁 (ant. yuè 說／悅 "feel pleased"), and the rarer poetic sāo 騷, qiǎo 悄, tì 惕 refer to various shades and degrees of poetically conceived anxiousness.

          10. Shì 事 (ant. zhì 治 "well-ordered situation") can refer to the kinds of matters or affairs that cause one to be anxious or worried.

        • SAD

          1. The general word for sadness of any kind is bēi 悲 (ant. huān 歡 "joyful" and xǐ 喜 "delighted").

          2. Yōu 悠 refers to a pensive listlessness, a wistful kind of sadness.

          3. Qī 悽 (ant. lè 樂 "feel acute profound joy") refers to acute profound unhappiness.

          4. Yù 鬱 (ant. xīn 欣 "in high spirits") refers to largely endogenic sadness or depression.

          5. Shāng 傷 (ant. yuè 悅 "be pleased") refers to sadness caused by identifiable external conditions.

          6. Cǎn 慘／憯 refers poetically to a kind of despondency.

          7. Mǐn 閔 / 憫 is a very poetic word which typically refers to a kind of sadness that has external causes and can be close to compassion.

          8. Chóu 愁 refers to an internalised sadness one is reluctant to show openly.

          9. Qī 戚 / 慽 is an archaising elevated word for sadness that is common in poetry.

          10. Qī chuàng 悽愴 refers to sadness typically associated with regret or even remorse.

          NB: The vocabulary of sadness in Chinese poses very special problems because it is to huge: in many cases I am quite unable to determine the exact nuances. This subject requires a special monograph.

        • DELIGHT

          1. The general current word referring to the purely psychological notion of a transitory or temporary feeling of pleasure or delight is yuè 悅 (ant. yùn 慍 "feel intensely dissatisfied with, feel offended by").

          2. The equally current lè 樂 (ant. āi 哀 "grief") adds to yuè 悅 the dimensions of practical indulgence, psychological and often philosophical depth, and - very often - a dimension of joy that can be shared and appreciated by others, and that is typically lasting if not permanent. See ENJOY

          3. Xǐ 喜 (ant. yōu 憂 "worry") is openly manifested delight, manifested in an individual, visible to all, but not normally of any profound significance.

          4. Huān 歡 (ant. bēi 悲 "sadness" and chóu 愁 "worried sadness") refers to sociable temporary high spirits, not only visible to many but normally shared by a group.

          5. Kuài 快 refers to momentary elation related to or intense satisfaction with a concrete situation.

          6. Xīn 欣 refers to grateful delight in what is designed to gratify one's desires.

          7. Yú 娛 is often causative "give pleasure to", and when intransitive the word refers to a mild feeling of well-being and gratification, very close to yú 愉 "mild delight".

          8. Yí 怡 refers to a kind of open unhidden dignified satisfaction.

          Word relations
        • Ant: (SAD)悅 / 說/DELIGHT The general current word referring to the purely psychological notion of a transitory or temporary feeling of pleasure or delight is yuè 悅 (ant. yùn 慍 "feel intensely dissatisfied with, feel offended by").
        • Assoc: (SAD)痛/PAIN The clearly dominant general word for physical pain is tòng 痛 (ant. shū 舒 "feel well" and wú yàng 無恙 "fail nothing").
        • Assoc: (SAD)苦/DISTRESS Kǔ 苦 and the much rarer xīn 辛 (ant. lè 樂 "be in a joyful state") refer to a lasting objective state of distress caused by identifiable external conditions.