Chinese word

悲伤

Pronunciation

Pinyinbēi shāng

Meaning

  • adjectivesad

Example

他看起来很悲伤。tā kàn qǐ lái hěn bēi shāng

He looks very sad.

Illustration for 悲伤 (sad)

More examples

看到那封信，他深感悲伤。kàn dào nà fēng xìn tā shēn gǎn bēi shāng

Seeing that letter, he felt deeply sad.

Core concept

A heavy sadness that turns inward and leaves little room for speech.

Common phrases

  • 感到悲伤gǎn dào bēi shāng

    feel sad

  • 深感悲伤shēn gǎn bēi shāng

    feel deeply sad

  • 陷入悲伤xiàn rù bēi shāng

    sink into sadness

Similar words

难过nán guò: Feeling sad and troubled, with emotions that are hard to settle.
伤心shāng xīn: Feeling personal heartache that drains energy and leaves a person low.
沮丧jǔ sàng: Feeling discouraged after a setback, with motivation and energy greatly reduced.
忧伤yōu shāng: A quiet, lingering sadness with a gentle, melancholy feeling.

Definition in Chinese

因遭遇不幸或失落而产生的深切哀痛，持续性强且常使人沉默。yīn zāo yù bú xìng huò shī luò ér chǎn shēng de shēn qiè āi tòng chí xù xìng qiáng qiě cháng shǐ rén chén mò

Word origin

悲 (bēi, "sorrow") + 伤 (shāng, "hurt") form a compound in which sorrow is understood as pain, highlighting the word's strong and enduring emotional force.

Usage tips

  • The word often sounds more formal or literary than casual emotion words, so it fits serious personal situations and written descriptions especially well.

Other meanings

  • sadnessnoun
  • sorrowfuladjective

Opposites

Word lists with this word