noun
sad or distressing matter; source of grief; bitter experience
Refers to a thing, event, or thought that causes sadness, worry, or distress. Often used in literary or reflective contexts.
人生には憂い事がつきものだ。
Life is full of sad and distressing things.
彼は憂い事を忘れるために酒を飲んだ。
He drank to forget his troubles.
悩み事 focuses on worries or problems one actively frets about, while 憂い事 has a more literary, sorrowful nuance, often implying a deeper, lingering sadness.
悲しみ is the emotion of sadness itself, whereas 憂い事 refers to the concrete matter or experience that causes such sadness.
Compound of 憂い (urei, 'sorrow, grief') + 事 (koto, 'thing, matter'), with rendaku voicing to goto. The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the word has been used since classical Japanese to refer to sad or troubling affairs.