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Please look at the 2nd kanji in the 熟語 that starts with 陰:
why?

That 熟語 means "grimly" and looks like a 形容動詞. Example usage:

「もう一度、JLPT不合格です」家庭教師は陰＿にいった。

Using New Nelson I looked under 陰 and did not find that 熟語.

  1. What is that kanji (音、訓、画数、部首)?
  2. I'm using a Mac. How can I input that character into a document? I'd be happy to cut/paste from a web page.
  3. Why would a translator use such a crazy 熟語 to express the feeling of "grimly"? For me, a non-native, I look at that 熟語 and actually feel "grim" because it reminds me that kanji are a never ending nightmare for me. But, what about native speakers?
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  • Another reasonably common word that uses this character: 鬱陶しい【うっとうしい】.
    – senshin
    Apr 18 '16 at 4:01
  • 「もう一度、JLPT不合格です。」 ← 誰が不合格なんですか？家庭教師が、ですか？「また、不合格でした。」「また、落ちました。」って意味ですか？ "I failed again"? "You failed again"? or "I/you will fail again"?
    – Chocolate ♦
    Apr 18 '16 at 6:34
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    Category:Japanese terms spelled with 鬱
    – hippietrail
    Apr 18 '16 at 6:58
  • @chocolate My feeling was that saying the tutor failed was unnatural (the role of a tutor is not to take exams). Saying that a 3rd person failed was not an option (there is no such person introduced in the context). Therefore, the only possible meaning was that it was the person listening to the tutor who had failed. The connection of "もう一度" and "陰鬱" implied that the exam was taken in the past (results read in the present).
    – konishiki
    Apr 18 '16 at 12:19
  • @konishiki Oh... In that case you'd say more like 「また、JLPTに落ちました(よ)。」 or 「また、JLPT(に/が)不合格でした(よ)。」 (「もう一度○○不合格…」 sounds unnatural... Is that line from your textbook? You can see how it's corrected here → lang-8.com/1136772/journals/… )
    – Chocolate ♦
    Apr 18 '16 at 16:40
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This kanji is 「うつ」, and it should appear in the kanji conversion list on Mac when you enter these kana. One of the most common words it appears in is [鬱病]{うつ・びょう}, which is the word for "depression". Another is [憂鬱]{ゆう・うつ} which also means "depression", "gloom", or "melancholy". The former is (I believe) the medical term for depression, while the latter is more subjective. Other than that, I'm not too sure on any other nuances between them.

The word in question is [陰鬱]{いん・うつ}, and the sentence would be something like:

"Once again I've failed the JLPT", the (home) tutor stated grimly.

You can get the sense of sadness and disappointment of the person by the use of this word; especially since they mentioned that they failed again.

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It's 鬱, which is read as うつ. See this entry from Wiktionary for details.

IMEs can easily convert うつ into 鬱, but don't worry, I don't remember how to write this kanji by hand. Although it's a 常用漢字 since 2010, it's too complicated :-) I believe many native speakers are like me.

Actually, this character is famous as an example of insanely complicated kanji. 厚切りジェイソン, a foreign comedian, often uses this kanji in his bits.

Your third question is a bit hard to answer because there is not enough context, but I personally think 陰鬱 is not uncommon at least in novels.

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3

鬱

is a rarely used kanji due to its complexity (I think this is the most complicated kanji in the jouyou list?), and it stands for depression, melancholia. Some words using it include:

  • 鬱病 (うつびょう) clinical depression
  • 陰鬱 (いんうつ) gloom, melancholy
  • 憂鬱 (ゆううつ) dejection, gloom, depression

Most of the time when you see this kanji it will be read with the on-yomi ウツ but jisho also gives the kun-yomi readings of うっする、ふさぐ、しげる which do not seem to be normally used.

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  • 8
    I think bolding 鬱 may not be the best idea.
    – Darius Jahandarie
    Apr 18 '16 at 1:24

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