Weltschmerz
Noun
- Mental depression or apathy caused by comparison of the actual state of the world with an ideal state.
- A mood of sentimental sadness.
Example Sentences
“There’s a specific kind of Sunday-night weltschmerz that hits when you realize the weekend is over and you’re heading back to the grind.”
“Reading old novels gives me a sense of weltschmerz, like missing a world I never even lived in.”
“My therapist said what I was describing wasn’t really anxiety, but rather weltschmerz.”
Word Origin
German, mid-19th century
Why this word?
To experience weltschmerz (sometimes “Weltschmerz” because German nouns are capitalized) is to experience a feeling of melancholy or world-weariness. Someone might approach a big life change with a feeling of weltschmerz — excited for what the future holds, yet sad and nostalgic for what they’re leaving behind. It comes from the German “Welt,” meaning “world,” and “Schmerz,” meaning “pain.” In a clinical sense, it’s a state of depression caused by comparing the actual state of the world with an idealized state.
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