Gloss · Words · Nostalgia

nostalgia

nɒˈstældʒənoun

What does nostalgia mean?

A warm, slightly sad longing for the past.

Nostalgia, six ways

PlainA warm, slightly sad longing for the past.
ADHDMissing the past. Sweet and sad at once. An old song does it.
Gen ZWhen an old song or a smell takes you straight back and you miss it, even the parts that were not that great.
MetaphorSunlight on a room you can see but cannot walk into again.
FormalA sentimental longing or wistful affection for a period in the past.
Like I’m 5When you remember something from before and you miss it and it makes you happy and sad at the same time. That’s nostalgia.

How to pronounce nostalgia

nah-STAL-juh/nɒˈstældʒə/

Nostalgia in a sentence

The smell of chalk brought a rush of nostalgia.
That song is pure nostalgia for me.
Advertisers lean heavily on nostalgia.

Synonyms for nostalgia

wistfulnessLonging, not only for the past.
reminiscenceRemembering, without the ache.
homesicknessThe first sense: longing for home.

Saudade vs nostalgia: Nostalgia looks back at a time. Saudade misses a person or a place, and knows it may not come back. The difference, in plain English.

Where nostalgia comes from

Greek. Nostos, a return home, and algos, pain. Coined in 1688 by a Swiss medical student, Johannes Hofer, for the homesickness of soldiers.

Good to know

Now mostly fond, and about a time rather than a place: nostalgia for the nineties. For a place you miss, homesick is still the plain word.

Nostalgia meaning, on a Gloss card: A warm, slightly sad longing for the past.

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Words like nostalgia

melancholy · wistful · poignant · obfuscate · nonchalant · sempiternal · All 110 words

In: Words for feelings · Latin and Greek roots