The kanji 憂 primarily conveys the feeling of "worry," "anxiety," "grief," or "sorrow." It represents a state of mental distress, concern about the future, or sadness over a loss or difficult situation. It often implies a feeling of being troubled or burdened.

・On-yomi (音読み): ユウ (yuu) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): うれ（う） (ure(u))

⚫︎ 憂鬱 (yuu'utsu) Translation: melancholy; depression ⚫︎ 憂慮 (yuu'ryo) Translation: concern; worry; anxiety ⚫︎ 憂い顔 (urei gao) Translation: a sorrowful face

The kanji 憂 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字, keisei moji). The left side is a component representing the "heart" or "mind" radical (忄, ⺗, or りっしんべん). The right side of the character, 憂, is 丑 (chou), which originally was a pictograph of a hand holding a wine cup, and it also functions phonetically here, suggesting the sound "yuu". Therefore, the combination of the "heart" radical and the phonetic component suggests a condition that affects one's mind. The origin is linked to someone troubled in heart and mind.