郁 meaning and stroke order
Melancholy; dense growth
How to write 郁, stroke by stroke
8 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
- 1
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- 8
Meaning of 郁
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- (bound form) strongly fragrant
- (bound form) (of vegetation) lush; luxuriant
- (bound form) melancholy; depressed
- variant of 鬱|郁[yu4]
- old variant of 鬱|郁[yu4]
How 郁 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. City.
阝 gives the meaning and 有 hints at the sound.
Radical: 阝 (place), shared by 160 characters on this site.
How to remember 郁
郁 combines 有 (yǒu, to have), which gives the sound, with 阝, the city radical on the right. Picture a city that has too much: so much growth and fragrance packed in that it feels heavy and gloomy.
郁 rarely stands alone and appears mostly in two-character words. For mood it shows up in 忧郁 (yōuyù), 抑郁 (yìyù) and the very common casual 郁闷 (yùmèn). For smell or flavor it appears in 浓郁 (nóngyù). Example: 我今天很郁闷。 (Wǒ jīntiān hěn yùmèn.) I feel really down today.
Common mistake: Learners often put 阝 on the left. In 郁 it sits on the right, which marks the city radical, not the hill radical used in characters like 阴 (yīn). Some also write 有 with the wrong first stroke. Its first stroke is the horizontal 一, not the falling stroke ノ.
Common words with 郁
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
郁 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 郁
How many strokes are in 郁?
郁 is written with 8 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 郁 mean?
郁 (yù) means melancholy; dense growth. A common word with it is 忧郁 (yōuyù), meaning "sullen; depressed; melancholy; dejected".
How do you pronounce 郁?
郁 is pronounced yù, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 郁?
The radical of 郁 is 阝, which carries the idea of "place". Dictionaries list 郁 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 郁?
The traditional form of 郁 is 欝, 鬰 and 鬱. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 郁 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 郁 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 郁 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 郁闷 and 抑郁?
郁闷 (yùmèn) is everyday speech for feeling frustrated, bored or fed up, often over small things. 抑郁 (yìyù) is more serious and can point to real depression, as in 抑郁症 (yìyùzhèng).
Why does 郁 appear in the word for tulip?
郁金香 (yùjīnxiāng) uses the sense strongly fragrant. The same sense of rich and strong shows up in 浓郁 (nóngyù), which describes a rich aroma or flavor.