Hüzün

Meaning: A collective, spiritual melancholy felt by a whole city — the sadness of Istanbul's faded glory, felt by all who live there.

Language: Turkish

Literally: melancholy

Category: Emotion

Origin: Turkish; deeply explored by Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk as Istanbul's defining mood.

More untranslatable words — Emotion

Spleen — A deep, existential ennui — a heavy, formless sadness and disgust with the world and ones…
Épanouissement — The full flourishing of a person — blooming into your most complete, radiant self. More t…
Razliubit — To fall out of love — the process of ceasing to love someone you once loved, leaving behi…
Kilig — The butterflies-and-shivers feeling of romantic excitement — the giddiness triggered by a…
Tampo — Pulling back your warmth and affection when you've been hurt — going quiet and distant, h…
Avos' — A blind, hopeful trust that things will somehow work out on their own — leaving the outco…

Merak — An intense, almost obsessive intellectual curiosity — not idle interest, but a passionate…

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