‘阴雨’ literally combines 阴 (yīn, meaning ‘overcast’, ‘cloudy’, or ‘shady’) and 雨 (yǔ, meaning ‘rain’). Together, it describes a specific weather condition: persistent, light, misty rain under thick gray cloud cover — not heavy downpour, but a damp, gloomy, drizzly overcast day. It emphasizes both the lack of sunlight and the gentle, continuous rainfall, often evoking a quiet, melancholy, or subdued atmosphere.

This term is commonly used in weather forecasts, travel descriptions, literature, and daily conversation when referring to prolonged cool, wet, low-visibility conditions — especially common in southern China during spring and autumn. Unlike the more general 雨天 (rainy day), 阴雨 specifically implies cloud cover *with* rain, excluding sunny showers or thunderstorms. It’s a compound noun that functions as a single lexical unit and is rarely split or modified mid-phrase.