German

Noun

Weltschmerz m ‎(genitive Weltschmerzes, no plural)

1. world-weariness; weltschmerz (profound depression regarding the human condition or the state of the world)

   Mein Weltschmerz entspringt aus dem Vergleich zwischen dem Guten, das der Mensch wirken kann, und dem Bösen, das er zu wirken pflegt.‎

   My weltschmerz originates from a comparison between the good that man can do, and the evil that he is in the habit of doing.

2. (informal, often humorous) causeless sadness; undue self-pity

   Jetzt mal Schluss mit dem Weltschmerz!‎

   Now stop pitying yourself!

Declension

Descendants

• English: weltschmerz

English

Alternative forms

• Weltschmerz

Noun

weltschmerz ‎(uncountable)

1. (sometimes capitalized) World-weariness; an apathetic or pessimistic view of life; depression concerning or discomfort with the human condition or state of the world.
   • 1938, W.S. Heckscher, “‘Was This the Face…?’” in the Journal of the Warburg Institute I, № 4 (April 1938), page 297:

     Here we have it at once, blended though it may be with the new elements of purging humour and all-embracing Weltschmerz, in Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

   • 1947, "Art: Berlin's Best," Time, 28 Apr.:

     Koerner's painting did have the heaviness, the harsh humor and the all-pervading weltschmerz which characterized German expressionism in the 1920s.

   • 1973, Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow:

     A man-to-man touch then on his buttoned epaulet. A middle-aged smile full of Weltschmerz.

Synonyms

• acedia
• ennui
• mal du siècle

Translations

See also

• weight of the world