愁 chóu anxious
anxious; worried
怎么记住“愁”: 秋 autumn + 心 heart = anxious. Every autumn, when her son leaves for university, the mother's heart grows heavy and she stays anxious until he calls.
部件结构
形声 · Meaning + sound
One part gives the meaning, the other gives the sound.
愁 = 秋 autumn + 心 heart
- 秋 autumn sound
- 禾 grain
- 火 fire
- 心 heart meaning
Every autumn, when her son leaves for university, the mother's heart grows heavy and she stays anxious until he calls.
How it came to be
The heart gives the meaning and autumn gives the sound.
用法
- To worry/be anxious (with a heavy, brooding tone): 发愁 (fāchóu) fret over, 忧愁 (yōuchóu) melancholy, 犯愁 (fànchóu) be worried.
- 愁眉苦脸 (chóuméi-kǔliǎn) = a worried, woebegone face. 愁 conveys a gloomy, weighed-down worry (often over money, hardship), more poetic than 担心 (dānxīn).