Kanji N1

憂: melancholy, grieve, lament

憂 is a JLPT N1 kanji meaning melancholy, grieve, lament, written with 15 strokes. It is read ユウ (on) and うれえる, うれい, うい (kun). It is one of the jōyō kanji taught in secondary school. You will see it in 憂鬱 (ゆううつ, depression) and 憂慮 (ゆうりょ, anxiety).

憂

Meanings

  • melancholy
  • grieve
  • lament
  • be anxious
  • sad
  • unhappy
Strokes15
JLPT levelN1
School gradeSecondary school
Frequency#1625 of 2,500

On reading · Kun reading

On reading
  • ユウ

On'yomi: from Chinese, written in katakana. Used in compound words.

Kun reading
  • うれえる
  • うれい
  • うい
  • うき

Kun'yomi: native Japanese, in hiragana. The faint part is the okurigana, written in kana after the kanji.

Watch the stroke order

Every stroke in order, the live one in vermilion. Replay as often as you like.

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Now draw it

Trace each stroke in order. Wrong direction or wrong order gets flagged right away.

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Your turn: draw stroke 1 of 15. Start at the dot.

Common words with 憂

The most useful words written with it, easiest first. Every other kanji in them opens its own page.

  • 憂鬱ゆううつ

    depression; melancholy; dejection; gloom

    JLPT N1
  • 憂慮ゆうりょ

    anxiety; concern; fear

  • 憂き目うきめ

    bitter experience; misery; distress; grief

  • 憂国ゆうこく

    patriotic concern for the future of one's country

  • 憂いうれい

    sorrow; grief; anguish; distress

  • 憂えるうれえる

    to worry about; to be anxious about

  • 一喜一憂いっきいちゆう

    alternating between happiness and anxiety

  • 杞憂きゆう

    needless fear; groundless apprehension

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Stroke order from KanjiVG © Ulrich Apel, CC BY-SA 3.0. Readings, meanings and words from KANJIDIC2 and JMdict, names from JMnedict, © EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0, and Wikidata, CC0. JLPT lists after Jonathan Waller (tanos.co.uk), CC BY.