weltschmerz
Sadness about everything
Weltschmerz is a German loan word for a weary, pessimistic feeling about life—a sense that the world can never meet one's expectations or ideals.
It suggests melancholy born not from personal troubles but from contemplating the state of existence itself: His poetry drips with weltschmerz.
The term carries a hint of romantic or intellectual posturing, as though the sufferer's sensitivity sets them apart from ordinary contentment. (Capitalized Weltschmerz is an alternate spelling.)
Deep unfocused worry
- ennuiWeary, listless dissatisfaction
- despairTotal absence of hope
- hopelessnessState without hope
- meaninglessnessLack of significance
absurdity · alienation · anomie · dread · nausea · void · emptiness · futility
Distrust of human sincerity
- disenchantmentLoss of cherished belief
- disappointmentSadness from unmet expectations
- resignationVoluntary relinquishment of position
- jadednessDulled enthusiasm from excess
bitterness · alienation · estrangement · discontent · malaise · dissatisfaction · disaffection · world-weariness
Deep emotional distress
- despondencyProfound loss of hope
- gloomPervasive dimness or dejection
- heartacheDeep emotional distress
- woefulnessCondition of deep sorrow
mournfulness · brooding · desolation · forlornness · sadness · heaviness · dolefulness · moroseness
Emotional, imaginative worldview
- SchopenhauerGerman pessimist philosopher
- ByronTitled Romantic versifier
- GoetheGerman poet-dramatist, 1749-1832
- pessimismExpecting unfavorable outcomes
Sustained experience of distress
- injusticeDenial of fair treatment
- inequalityUnequal distribution of resources
- crueltyDeliberate harm-causing disposition
- oppressionUnjust exercise of power
inhumanity · civilization · modernity · disillusionment · corruption · exploitation · human condition · moral decay
angst
Deep unfocused worry
- ennuiWeary, listless dissatisfaction
- despairTotal absence of hope
- hopelessnessState without hope
meaninglessness · absurdity · alienation · anomie · dread · nausea · void · emptiness · futility · nihilism
cynicism
Distrust of human sincerity
- disenchantmentLoss of cherished belief
- disappointmentSadness from unmet expectations
- resignationVoluntary relinquishment of position
jadedness · bitterness · alienation · estrangement · discontent · malaise · dissatisfaction · disaffection · world-weariness
sorrow
Deep emotional distress
- despondencyProfound loss of hope
- gloomPervasive dimness or dejection
- heartacheDeep emotional distress
woefulness · mournfulness · brooding · desolation · forlornness · sadness · heaviness · dolefulness · moroseness · disconsolation
romanticism
Emotional, imaginative worldview
- SchopenhauerGerman pessimist philosopher
- ByronTitled Romantic versifier
- GoetheGerman poet-dramatist, 1749-1832
pessimism · idealism · transcendentalism · nineteenth-century
suffering
Sustained experience of distress
- injusticeDenial of fair treatment
- inequalityUnequal distribution of resources
- crueltyDeliberate harm-causing disposition
oppression · inhumanity · civilization · modernity · disillusionment · corruption · exploitation · human condition · moral decay
- German Wordsdie, in, an, auf, von
- melancholysadness, sorrow, gloom, woe, dejection
- sufferingagony, anguish, misery, pain, torment
- fancy wordsgrandiloquent, magniloquent, sesquipedalian, pulchritudinous, tintinnabulation
- pessimismpessimism, nihilism, fatalism, hopelessness, despair
- Untranslatableshygge, schadenfreude, wanderlust, hiraeth, wabi-sabi
weltschmerzoptimism
Tendency to expect good
Pollyannaism · hopefulness · idealism · rose-colored glasses · sanguineness
weltschmerzzest for life
joie de vivre · vitality · enthusiasm · gusto · vivacity