Untranslatable wordEmotionRussian

Toska

Meaning: A dull ache of the soul; a great longing with nothing in particular to long for.

Literally: Spiritual ache

Origin: Russian тоска; famously glossed by novelist Vladimir Nabokov.

More untranslatable words — Emotion

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  • Retrouvailles The joy of reuniting with someone after a long time apart.
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  • Natsukashii A warm, nostalgic rush triggered by something from the past — a smell, a song, a sight. N…
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More Russian untranslatable words

  • 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…
  • Avos' A blind, hopeful trust that things will somehow work out on their own — leaving the outco…
  • Poshlost' Not merely the trashy, but the falsely important, falsely beautiful and falsely clever —…
  • Nadryv An uncontrolled outpouring of buried feeling, often strained past anything the person tru…
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