憂い

• 読み: うれい
• ローマ字: urei
• 漢字の分解: 憂 (u/yuu) — grief, sorrow, melancholy; い — nominalising okurigana
• 発音: /ɯ.ɾe.i/

意味

Grief; sorrow; worry; anxiety. A deep, inward-looking melancholy or concern, often about the state of the world or one's circumstances.

A literary noun derived from the verb 憂える (ureeru, to grieve or worry). Unlike everyday 心配 (worry), 憂い carries a more profound and often philosophical weight — it is the sorrow of someone deeply aware of the world's impermanence or suffering. Common collocations include 憂いを帯びた (tinged with sorrow) and 憂いを抱く (to carry grief). Central to classical Japanese literary aesthetics.

例文

1. 彼の詩には、時代への深い憂いが込められている。
2. 社会の将来に対する憂いを胸に、彼女は政治の世界に飛び込んだ。
3. 憂いを帯びた目で窓の外を眺めながら、彼はぽつりと語り始めた。

使い方ガイド

場面: literature, poetry, politics, philosophy

トーン: serious

起源と歴史

Derived from the classical verb 憂える (ureeru), meaning to grieve or be deeply troubled. The kanji 憂 depicts heaviness of heart and was central to classical poetry expressing existential sorrow or concern for the transience of the world.

文化的背景

時代: Ancient

世代: Adults

社会的背景: Educated