Nostalgic

Practice This Word

Longing for the past; feeling sentimental about things that happened earlier, often with a hint of sadness.

adjective

Nostalgic

Longing for the past; feeling sentimental about things that happened earlier, often with a hint of sadness.

adjective

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Imagine This

An old grandmother sits in her rocking chair on the front porch and wonders how her life would have been if there had never been a tragic plane crash that killed all her relatives.

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Sounds Like

noh-STAL-jik

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Looks Like

nostalgia (similar root and spelling)

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Remember This

Nostalgic describes a feeling or mood; the noun form is nostalgia. The root idea is longing for a past time, not just fond memory.

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Other Forms

nostalgianoun

nostalgicallyadverb

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Connect With

nostalgia, reminiscence, wistfulness, sentimental, longing

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Note

Nostalgic does not mean the present is bad; it often implies sentimental longing with mixed emotions. Be careful not to use it to describe a simple fond memory without wistfulness.

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Study Deeper

Examples

She felt nostalgic as she flipped through the pages of her childhood photo album.
The movie's setting and soundtrack gave many viewers a nostalgic sense of summers long past.

Synonyms

wistfulsentimentalreminiscentlongingyearning

Antonyms

moderncontemporaryforward-looking

Etymology

From Greek nostos 'return home' and algos 'pain', via Latin/French development; the adjective nostalgic derives from the noun nostalgia.

Mnemonic

NOSTALGIC: Nostos (return home) + -algia (pain) — the pain of returning home in memory; think 'nostalgia' as longing for a past home.

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