The Death of Fissiparous and Other Words: A Dictionary of Words & Phrases on the Verge of Extinction

Weltschmertz

VELT-shmurtz

noun

the state of being world-weary; sadness caused by the ongoing tribulations of the world; pessimism over the future of mankind

1891George Du MaurierPeter Ibbetson Often the inquisitive passer-by, had he peeped through the blinds of No.—Wharton Street, Pentonville, late at night, would have been rewarded by the touching spectacle of a huge, rawboned ex-private in her Majesty's Life Guards, with his head bowed over the black and yellow key-board of a venerable square piano-forte (on which he could not play), dropping the bitter tear of loneliness and Weltschmertz combined. 1923Anton Chekhov Lights...the pessimism of old thinkers does not take the form of idle talk, as it does with you and me, but of Weltschmertz, of suffering…

Labels: Anton Chekhov, George du Maurier

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Entry By: CJ Cooney
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etiolate

EE-tee-uh-layt

verb

to make weak; to create a pale or sickly appearance; to deprive of light

1891George du MaurierPeter IbbetsonAnd is there, perchance, some sixth sense embedded somewhere in the thickness of the flesh—some survival of the past, of the race, of our own childhood even, etiolated by disuse?1982Brian AldissHelliconia SpringThe chill, the etiolated morning in which rain threatened, the sense of adventure, served to make her feel disembodied.1995Gregory MaguireWicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the WestShe sat down, looking a bit etiolated…

Labels: Brian Aldiss, George du Maurier, Gregory Maguire

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Entry By: CJ Cooney
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