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)
He devoted himself entirely to his research, forgetting his miserable life.
She stood up, determined not to remain in a life of misery.
Standard kanji spelling with regular okurigana.
Kana-kanji mixed spelling; it is a written form.
Irregular okurigana usage; less common.
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.