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nostalgia

noh-STAL-juh /nɒˈstældʒə/

nounB2GRESATIELTSTOEFL

neutral

A sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, especially for happy personal travel or childhood memories.

Combines emotional sweetness with a slight ache for times and places that cannot be re-lived.

The story behind the word. Coined in 1688 by Swiss medical student Johannes Hofer as a clinical term for severe homesickness suffered by Swiss mercenary soldiers stationed abroad. The 'pain' (algos) for 'returning home' (nostos) was treated as a physical disease before evolving into sweet sentimental longing.

Word relationships

wistfulness: Wistfulness is general melancholy longing, whereas nostalgia specifically relates to past memories and home.
homesickness: Homesickness is distress from being away right now, whereas nostalgia is bittersweet fondness for past eras.

anticipation: Anticipation looks forward to the future, while nostalgia looks back toward the past.

Commonly confused with

melancholy: Melancholy is general unmotivated sadness, whereas nostalgia is warm, memory-driven longing.

Word family

nostalgic (adjective): Feeling or evoking nostalgia.
nostalgically (adverb): In a nostalgic manner.

Collocations

wave of nostalgia
nostalgia trip
deep nostalgia

Idioms & expressions

rose-tinted glasses

Example sentences

"Looking through photographs of old family vacations always washed over her with a wave of warmth and nostalgia." Personal reflection essay

Memory hook

NOST-ALGIA: NO STay in the present; ALGI (pain) to return home. Bittersweet longing for the past.

When not to use

Do not use for present excitement or forward-looking expectation.

Fun facts

In 18th-century Swiss military regiments, soldiers were strictly forbidden from singing traditional Alpine melodies because it triggered fatal outbreaks of nostalgia.