wistfulness
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wistfulness
A feeling of quiet sadness and longing, often connected with fond memories of something past or lost.
Beim Betrachten der alten Fotos überkam ihn ein Gefühl der Wehmut.
Looking at the old photos, he was overcome by a feeling of wistfulness.
'Wehmut' (wistfulness) is made up of 'Weh' (pain, suffering) and 'Mut', where 'Mut' is used here in its older meaning of 'Gemütszustand' (state of mind) or 'Stimmung' (mood). So it describes a painful, longing state of mind.
Beim Abschied empfand sie eine tiefe Wehmut.
At the farewell, she felt deep wistfulness.
The adjective for this feeling is 'wehmütig' (wistful). For example, you can say 'wehmütig an die Kindheit zurückdenken' (to think back wistfully on childhood) or have 'einen wehmütigen Blick' (a wistful look).
Sie wurde plötzlich ganz wehmütig, als sie das alte Lied hörte.
She suddenly became quite wistful when she heard the old song.
Since 'Wehmut' (wistfulness) is a feeling, it is often combined with verbs of feeling, such as 'Wehmut empfinden' (to feel wistfulness) or 'fühlen' (to feel). The phrase 'ein Anflug von Wehmut' (a touch of wistfulness) is also very common for a feeling that suddenly arises.
Mit großer Wehmut dachte er an seine Studienzeit zurück.
He thought back to his university days with great wistfulness.
'Wehmut' (wistfulness) is a rather poetic and elevated word. It is used mainly in written language or when you want to express a very specific, bittersweet feeling of nostalgia.
In seinem Brief schrieb er voller Wehmut über die verlorene Zeit.
In his letter, he wrote with wistfulness about the lost time.
pain
'der Schmerz' and 'die Wehmut' can both have to do with sadness. 'Schmerz' describes strong suffering, physical or emotional. 'Wehmut' is quieter and often connected with fond memories, for example of a past time. The words can be confused because wistfulness also makes you somewhat sad. But 'Wehmut' does not sound as harsh as 'Schmerz' and often also contains longing or warmth.
Beim Blick auf die alten Kursfotos fühlte er Wehmut.
Looking at the old course photos, he felt wistful.
Nach der Trennung war der Schmerz für Lisa kaum auszuhalten.
After the breakup, the pain was almost unbearable for Lisa.