发愁

• Pinyin: fā chóu
• Hanzi breakdown: 发 = 弓 + 殳 — to emit, produce, give rise to; 愁 = 秋 (autumn, a season traditionally associated with melancholy) + 心 (heart) — autumnal feelings in the heart, the natural arising of melancholy and worry

Meaning

To worry; to feel anxious or troubled. To be in a state of low-level distress about a problem, difficulty, or uncertainty.

发愁 describes a lingering, gnawing anxiety — less acute than 恐惧 (fear) or 焦虑 (clinical anxiety), but more persistent than momentary worry. Standard collocation: 为...发愁 (to worry about...). Common in everyday conversation about practical concerns such as money, employment, housing, and relationships.

Examples

1. 她为下个月的房租发愁了好几天，始终找不到解决资金缺口的有效办法。 She worried for days about next month’s rent and still couldn’t find an effective way to cover the funding gap.
2. 面对即将到来的毕业答辩，同学们都在为论文的最终修改发愁，图书馆里座无虚席。 With the thesis defense approaching, everyone was worried about final revisions to their papers, and the library was packed.
3. 老两口最发愁的事，就是独居在外地的儿子始终不肯考虑成家的问题。 What the elderly couple worried about most was that their son, living alone in another city, still refused to seriously consider getting married.

Usage Guide

Context: everyday, family, work, emotional

Tone: concerned

Do Say

• 他整日为公司的资金周转问题发愁，虽然表面上维持着平静的工作状态，但亲近的同事都能感受到他内心的压力与焦虑。(He worried all day about the company's cash flow problems; although he maintained a calm outward appearance at work, colleagues close to him could feel the pressure and anxiety he was carrying internally.)
• 与其坐在那里为无法控制的外部因素发愁，不如将精力集中在那些自己真正能够影响和改变的事情上，这才是应对困境的务实态度。(Rather than sitting there worrying about external factors beyond your control, it is more constructive to focus your energy on the things you can genuinely influence and change — that is the pragmatic attitude for facing adversity.)

Don't Say

• 我很发愁 — 发愁 is a verb predicate and does not take 很 as a direct intensifier; say 我为这件事很担忧 or 我对这件事感到十分苦恼 for a natural expression of worry

Origin & History

发 (to generate/emit/give rise to) + 愁 (sorrow/worry) — to generate or give rise to a state of worry in one's heart

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal