nostalgia

[ no-stal-juh, -jee-uh, nuh- ]

noun

1. a wistful desire to return in thought or in fact to a former time in one's life, to one's home or homeland, or to one's family and friends; a sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former place or time:

   a nostalgia for his college days.

2. something that elicits or displays nostalgia.

nostalgia

/ -dʒɪə; nɒˈstældʒə /

noun

1. a yearning for the return of past circumstances, events, etc
2. the evocation of this emotion, as in a book, film, etc
3. longing for home or family; homesickness

Other Words From

• nos·talgic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of nostalgia¹

First recorded in 1770–80; from New Latin, from Greek nóst(os) “a return home” + -algia -algia

Word History and Origins

Origin of nostalgia¹

C18: New Latin (translation of German Heimweh homesickness), from Greek nostos a return home + -algia

Example Sentences

“Between the nostalgia and multigenerational appeal in terms of their respective core fan group, we were reaching as wide of an audience as possible,” Riegg said.

From Los Angeles Times

“This led to the creation of a number of apps based around nostalgia,” she explained.

From Slate

Encouraging users to take a context-free trip down memory lane is an easy way for social platforms to monetize our nostalgia.

From Slate

“It would almost be a waste for them not to do this, because not only does it engender us to their products, but it incentivizes us to keep posting. As we’ve been posting less, platforms have learned even more heavily into nostalgia, because they’re trying to spur us to share.”

From Slate

“The internet has always allowed us to participate in mass nostalgia,” Lorenz said, because “social media encourages us to gloss over the bad.”

From Slate

Related Words

• longing
• remorse
• sentimentality
• wistfulness
• yearning