Gloss · Words · Words for feelings

Words for feelings you can’t name

The feeling comes first and the word is usually missing. These are the ones people look up after the fact: the ache for a place, the stranger’s whole life, the longing that is almost sweet.

1. saudade nounA deep, tender longing for something or someone that is gone and may not come back.
2. hiraeth nounA deep longing for a home you cannot go back to, or that never quite existed.
3. sonder nounThe realization that every stranger has a life as full and complicated as your own.
4. limerence nounThe obsessive, early stage of being in love, when you cannot stop thinking about someone.
5. nostalgia nounA warm, slightly sad longing for the past.
6. melancholy nounA deep, quiet sadness that stays for a while and has no single cause.
7. wistful adjectiveQuietly sad and longing for something that is gone or out of reach.
8. poignant adjectiveCausing a sharp, bittersweet sadness.
9. euphoria nounA feeling of intense happiness and excitement.
10. ambivalent adjectiveHaving mixed feelings about something, pulled both ways.
11. apathy nounNot caring about something, with no interest or feeling.
12. trepidation nounA nervous fear about something that is about to happen.
13. equanimity nounStaying calm and even whatever happens.
14. catharsis nounA release of strong feelings that leaves you lighter.
15. schadenfreude nounPleasure at someone else’s misfortune.
16. reverie nounA state of being pleasantly lost in your thoughts.
17. wanderlust nounA strong urge to travel and see new places.
18. serene adjectiveCalm, peaceful, and untroubled.
19. hygge nounA feeling of cozy contentment: warmth, good company, nothing to do.
20. ineffable adjectiveToo great or too strange to be put into words.
21. vicarious adjectiveFelt through someone else’s experience rather than your own.
22. sublime adjectiveSo great or beautiful that it fills you with awe.
23. languid adjectiveSlow and relaxed, without much energy.
24. lethargic adjectiveSluggish and tired, with no energy to do anything.
25. somnolent adjectiveSleepy, or making you feel sleepy.
26. soporific adjectiveMaking you sleepy.
27. ebullient adjectiveBubbling over with energy and cheer.
28. epiphany nounA sudden moment when you finally understand something.
29. placid adjectiveCalm and peaceful, not easily upset.
30. lugubrious adjectiveSad and gloomy in an exaggerated way.

Every word here is explained six ways on its own page, the way Gloss explains any word in the app: Plain, ADHD, Gen Z, Metaphor, Formal, or Like I’m 5. For iPhone, free for three days.

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