noun
wretched life; life of misery
Literary or poetic term for a life filled with suffering and hardship. Often appears in the set phrase 憂き身をやつす (to be absorbed in something, literally 'to disguise one's miserable life').
See also: 憂き身をやつす (うきみをやつす)
彼は憂き身をやつして研究に没頭した。
He devoted himself entirely to his research, forgetting his miserable life.
憂き身のままではいられないと、彼女は立ち上がった。
She stood up, determined not to remain in a life of misery.
憂き目 refers to a bitter or painful experience, while 憂き身 describes the state of one's life as miserable.
Compound of 憂き (uki, the attributive form of the classical adjective 憂し, 'miserable') and 身 (mi, 'body, self, life'). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the term has been used in classical Japanese literature to express a life of suffering.