Poshlost'

Meaning: Not merely the trashy, but the falsely important, falsely beautiful and falsely clever — bad taste passing itself off as significance.

Language: Russian

Literally: self-satisfied vulgarity

Category: Social

Origin: Russian пошлость; that definition is Vladimir Nabokov's, who devoted pages to the word.

More untranslatable words — Social

Yurodivy — One who plays the fool deliberately as a religious act, and is therefore licensed to spea…
Beloruchka — Someone who dodges dirty or hard work — a person whose hands stay conspicuously clean.
Amae — The comfortable feeling of depending on another's goodwill — leaning into someone's indul…
Fremdschämen — The vicarious embarrassment you feel for someone who is doing something cringeworthy — ev…
Drachenfutter — A peace-offering gift brought home to a partner after staying out too late or doing somet…
Nunchi — The subtle art of reading a room — sensing what people feel, what they need, and what is…

Nadryv — An uncontrolled outpouring of buried feeling, often strained past anything the person tru…
Khalyava — Something good got for free and without effort — and, strictly, something you were never…
Zapoi — A bender running for days, in which a person drops out of ordinary life entirely.
Toska — A dull ache of the soul; a great longing with nothing in particular to long for.
Pochemuchka — A person — usually a child — who asks an endless stream of questions, one 'why?' after an…
Razliubit — To fall out of love — the process of ceasing to love someone you once loved, leaving behi…

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