nostalgia

CEFRB2

/nɒˈstæld͡ʒə/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A warm but sometimes sad feeling about the past.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A bittersweet yearning for the things of the past.

Examples

  • Listening to this song fills my heart with nostalgia.

  • Tom loves the nostalgia of listening to hit songs from his youth.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
3
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5

Also pronounced

  • /nəˈstæɫd͡ʒə/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meaning

  1. A longing for home or familiar surroundings; homesickness.

More examples

In context

  • Seeing food at camp similar to his mother's cooking sent a wave of nostalgia through him.

  • an alumnus' feelings of nostalgia for his/her years in high school

  • I have an idea that some men are born out of their due place. Accident has cast them amid certain surroundings, but they have always a nostalgia for a home they know not.

Antonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

Looking at the old photographs filled him with blank for his childhood home.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From New Latin nostalgia, coined by Johannes Hofer in 1688 from Ancient Greek νόστος (nóstos, “returning home”) + ἄλγος (álgos, “pain”), calquing German Heimweh. Ancient Greek *νοσταλγία (*nostalgía) is unattested. Transferred sense probably influenced by French nostalgie, especially in literature. Compare Italian nostalgia, Spanish nostalgia, Portuguese nostalgia and French nostalgie.