How to Write 懑 (mèn) — Meaning “resentful; depressed”

Imagine a heart (心) that is so full of frustration it feels like a balloon about to burst, with the top part (满 without water) representing that overwhelming fullness. Picture saying "men" in English as a groan of annoyance when your heart is overstuffed with bad feelings.

Write the upper component 㒼 (from 满) first with 10 strokes, paying attention to the horizontal strokes being evenly spaced, then add the bottom 心 as 4 strokes (left dot, hook dot, center dot, right dot). A common mistake is writing the heart radical too narrow or forgetting the middle dot, making it look like 忄 instead.

懑 has a "full" top (㒼) and heart bottom, while 慧 has a broom-like top (彗) over 心, meaning wisdom sharpens the heart. 慰 has 尉 (official) on top and 心 below, meaning to comfort someone's heart. Visually, 懑's top is wider and flatter, unlike the tall 慰 or the pointed 慧.

懑 is a formal literary character not used in everyday speech, appearing in compound words like 愤懑 (fèn mèn) to express deep indignation or 烦懑 (fán mèn) for irritation and gloom. It often appears in classical poetry or serious writing to convey a heavy, suffocating emotional state.

Common words containing 懑 include: 愤懑 (fèn mèn) — Resentful; aggrieved.; 烦懑 (fán mèn) — Depressed and annoyed; 郁懑 (yù mèn) — depressed and resentful.