The Chinese word 忧虑 (yōulǜ), meaning "worried" or "anxious," is a compound formed through the combination of two semantically similar characters, each contributing to an intensified meaning of psychological distress. The first character, 忧 (yōu), by itself signifies "worry" or "sorrow," often carrying an emotional connotation. The second character, 虑 (lǜ), denotes "anxiety," "concern," or "to think over," with a nuance of mental contemplation or forethought. When paired, they create a binome (a two-syllable word) where the meanings reinforce each other, a common morphological process in Chinese for forming abstract nouns or adjectives that express a complex emotional state—in this case, a deep-seated blend of sorrowful worry and anxious preoccupation.