The kanji 悩 primarily conveys the meaning of "worry," "anguish," "trouble," or "to be troubled." It implies a state of mental distress, concern, or difficulty. It often relates to a state of being mentally tormented or struggling with a problem.

・On-yomi (音読み): ・ *Nō* (ノウ) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): ・ *nay(amu)* 悩悩む (to worry, to be troubled) ・ *nay(masu)* 悩悩ます (to trouble, to distress, to bother)

⚫︎ 悩み Translation: worry; trouble; problem ⚫︎ 悩む Translation: to worry; to be troubled; to be distressed ⚫︎ 悩み事 Translation: worries; troubles; problems

The kanji 悩 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字). It combines two parts: ⚫︎ The radical 心 (こころ, kokoro), meaning "heart" or "mind," indicating the semantic component—that is, the meaning of the character. This hints that the character is related to feelings and mental states. ⚫︎ The phonetic component is 脳 (nou), which is related to the sound. The component here represents the sound of the word, which relates to the character's pronunciation. Therefore, the character 悩 suggests something that troubles the mind or heart, hence the meaning of worry or anguish.