Bitterness
Misery, Hardship, Distress
noun
Grief shows in your eyes by making them look like you've gone through a lot of bitterness and hardship. You can always see it in someone else if you look them in the eyes too.
You’ll see this word most often in 憂き目を見る and 憂き目に合う, which both mean “to experience misery.”
This word uses one of the kun'yomi readings for the kanji. You haven’t learned this kun’yomi reading for 憂, so here's a mnemonic to help you remember it:
Why the bitterness in your eyes? You visited a famed uni (う) restaurant, only to find it closed and locked. Where is the key (き)? Your 目s scream of the uni missed. In a sea of misery, a missed uni is the hardest to swallow.
失恋の憂き目に遭いました。
I met with the misery of a broken heart.