Dictionary.com Word Of The Day
MARCH 31, 2017
Weltschmerz
noun
[VELT-shmerts]
1. German. sorrow that one feels and accepts as one's necessary portion
in life; sentimental pessimism.
MORE FROM DICTIONARY.COM WEIRD WORDS
The best insults.
Brilliant comebacks to leave your enemies stunned. WAYS TO SAY
What's the word for how it smells after it rains?
Amazing weather terms you should know. WEIRD WORDS
The saddest words in English:
These words will leave you sobbing.QUOTESWeltschmerz, the philosophy of
the "world-woe," was at its height. Gloomy theology and pessimistic
philosophy reigned.
-- , "The Sorrows of Werther," New York Times, September 21, 1910
ORIGINWeltschmerz comes from German Welt world and Schmerz pain
(related to English smart pain). Weltschmerz is associated with 19th
century Romanticism and was coined by the German Romantic writer Jean
Paul, the pen name of Jean Paul Friedrich Richter (1763-1825), in his
novel Selina (1827). English uses the standard German spelling and the
pronunciation of w as v, but English has had the alternative spelling
Weltschmertz for about as long a time. Weltschmerz entered English in
the 19th century.
©
