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鬱鬱不得志

简郁郁不得志 · 繁鬱鬱不得志

Mandarin · pinyin yù yù bù dé zhì

soured by the loss of one's hopes

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Characters in this entry

鬱: Look up this written character
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
得: dé · obtain, get, gain, acquire
志: zhì · purpose, will, determination; annals
郁: yù · sweet smelling, rich in aroma; (Cant.) to move, hit

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

4–4–4–2–4 · yu4 yu4 bu4 de2 zhi4

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

鬱鬱不得志 · find source passages ↗ · 郁郁不得志 · find source passages ↗

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(idiomatic) to feel depressed because one cannot achieve their ambition

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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