Chinese symbol for “melancholy”
惆怅
chóu chàng
Traditional: 惆悵
melancholy; depression
The closest CC-CEDICT match for melancholy is 惆怅 (chóu chàng), defined as: melancholy; depression.
Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.
Characters and stroke order
Traditional forms
Other Chinese words for “melancholy”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 忧郁 (憂鬱) | yōu yù | sullen; depressed; melancholy; dejected |
| 沉郁 (沉鬱) | chén yù | melancholy; gloomy |
| 哀婉 | āi wǎn | (esp. of poetry, music) melancholy; sad and moving |
| 愁绪 (愁緒) | chóu xù | melancholy |
| 凄婉 (淒婉) | qī wǎn | melancholy; moving and sad |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 惆怅.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 怅然 (悵然) | chàng rán | disappointed and frustrated |
| 怅惘 (悵惘) | chàng wǎng | distracted; listless |
| 怅然若失 (悵然若失) | chàng rán ruò shī | (idiom) to feel a profound sense of loss; to feel disconsolate |
| 怅怅然 (悵悵然) | chàng chàng rán | disappointed |
See also: Japanese symbol for “melancholy”.
Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3); Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License (graphics.txt); LGPL-3.0-or-later (dictionary.txt)); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.