Chinese word

发愁

Pronunciation

Pinyinfā chóu

Meaning

  • verbworry

Example

别为小事发愁。bié wèi xiǎo shì fā chóu

Don't worry about small things.

Illustration for 发愁 (worry)

More examples

听到坏消息后，他一时很发愁，后来慢慢释怀了。tīng dào huài xiāo xī hòu tā yì shí hěn fā chóu hòu lái màn màn shì huái le

After hearing the bad news, he worried for a while, but gradually let go of his worries.

Core concept

The mind stays restless when a difficulty or unknown result remains unresolved.

Common phrases

  • 为工作发愁wèi gōng zuò fā chóu

    worry about work

  • 为婚姻发愁wèi hūn yīn fā chóu

    worry about marriage

  • 为未来发愁wèi wèi lái fā chóu

    worry about the future

Similar words

担心dān xīn: Feeling concerned about how something will turn out or affect people.
烦恼fán nǎo: Feeling upset and unable to relax because of an unpleasant or difficult matter.
担忧dān yōu: Feeling uneasy and worried about a future event or what may happen.
忧虑yōu lǜ: Feeling deeply worried about a serious problem or the future.

Definition in Chinese

对事情感到担心、烦恼或忧虑，心情不安，常因未卜的结果或困难而烦心。duì shì qíng gǎn dào dān xīn fán nǎo huò yōu lǜ xīn qíng bù ān cháng yīn wèi bǔ de jié guǒ huò kùn nán ér fán xīn

Word origin

发愁 (fāchóu, "to worry") combines 发 (fā, "arise") with 愁 (chóu, "sorrow"), so it presents sorrow as something that rises in the mind.

Usage tips

  • In everyday conversation, a common pattern is 为 (wèi, "for") + the cause + 发愁 (fāchóu, "to worry"), which states what the worry is about.

Other meanings

  • fretverb
  • be anxiousverb
  • be troubledverb

Opposites

Word lists with this word