Taxonomy of meanings for 欣:　　

Additional information about 欣

說文解字: 【欣】，笑喜也。 〔小徐本無「也」。〕 从欠、斤聲。 【許斤切】

Criteria
• 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.

• ANGUISH
  

  [IMPERSONAL/PERSONAL]

  [PRECISE/VAGUE]

  [POETIC/PROSAIC]

  [LASTING/TRANSITORY]

  1. Jí 疾 (ant. kuài 快 "be delighted") is acute temporary or momentary anguish directed at a definite cause of dissatisfaction. See also HATE.

  [PRECISE], [TRANSITORY]

  2. Yùn 慍 (ant. yú 愉 "feel generally pleased") is lingering or lasting somewhat milder and more diffuse dissatisfaction or anguish. See ANGER. The distinction is miserably uncertain in many contexts.

  [OVERT], [LASTING]

  3. Fèn 憤 "pent-up dissatisfaction and resentment" (ant.* chàng 暢 "vent one's feelings freely" is not a regular antonym that is stylistically acceptable in parallelism) can be a general feeling of dissatisfaction without any concrete person to be dissatisfied about. See also ANGER.

  [COVERT], [IMPERSONAL], [INTENSE], [LASTING]

  4. Chàng 悵 (ant. xīn rán 欣然 "be pleased with oneself") is poetic and intensely personal without being directed at any particular person, and involves a strong element of despondency.

  [INTENSE], [IMPERSONAL], [LASTING], [POETIC]; [[RARE]]

Word relations
• Assoc: (DELIGHT)歡 / 歡 / 驩/HAPPY Huān 歡 (ant. bēi 悲 "sadness" and chóu 愁 "worried sadness") refers to sociable temporary high spirits and happiness, not only visible to many but normally shared by a group. 2 Attributions
• Assoc: (DELIGHT)歡 / 歡 / 驩/HAPPY Huān 歡 (ant. bēi 悲 "sadness" and chóu 愁 "worried sadness") refers to sociable temporary high spirits and happiness, not only visible to many but normally shared by a group. 1 Attribution