📖 Meaning
Feeling persistently depressed and seldom cheerful; having a gloomy state of mind that leaves little room for joy. It describes someone who is chronically downcast and rarely experiences happiness.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom has no single canonical origin in classical literature; it is a descriptive compound formed from common Chinese vocabulary. The word '抑郁' means pent-up or depressed in mood, while '寡欢' means having few moments of joy. Together they naturally characterize a persistently melancholic disposition. The phrase appears in modern Chinese literary and everyday usage to denote someone who is chronically unhappy and withdrawn.
💡 Example Usage
自从失去亲人后，他变得抑郁寡欢，很少与人交谈。
Since losing a loved one, he has become depressed and withdrawn, rarely speaking with others.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 抑郁寡欢
- Pinyin: yì yù guǎ huān
- Literal Translation: depressed, melancholy, few, joyful
- Category: Emotion
- Characters: 4