12 German Words for Highly Specific Feelings
Germany isn’t a country known for its poetry — mostly because German sentences often sound like a large man trying to fight his way out of a marsh. What Germans are known for is their efficiency, and that extends to their language. In particular, they’re famous for creating words that succinctly refer to a complex emotion without even a hyphen to be found. In Germany, you could probably get a whole therapy session done in five to ten minutes, with none of that circular blubbering while you try to express yourself.
Here are 12 German words for unique feelings, and an example for each…
Schadenfreude
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We’ll start with the one you likely know already: schadenfreude, feeling joy due to someone else's misfortune.
“When the Cybertruck owner who’d stolen his parking spot cut himself on the car’s sharp doorframe, he felt a distinct sense of schadenfreude.”
Fremdschamen
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You’re less likely to have heard fremdschamen, but it’s a related feeling. It’s instead the feeling of secondhand embarrassment for someone else. Sort of the German equivalent of “cringe.”
“Their friend had barely entered the bar wearing his new cowboy boots before they were overcome with fremdschamen.”
Sontagsleerung
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We’ve all experienced sontagsleerung, the feeling of depression that hits Sunday night, knowing that work is on the horizon.
“With the credits of her eighth straight episode of Criminal Minds, she descended into sontagsleerung.”
Waldeinsamkeit
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A much nicer feeling, and a bit of a counterpoint to sontagsleerung is waldeinsamkeit, the deeply peaceful sense of being totally alone in the wilderness.
“Henry David Thoreau’s Walden is, completely coincidentally, a reflection on waldeinsamkeit."
Getmutlichkeit
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Getmutlichkeit is listed as “cozy” in some online dictionaries, but it’s more specific than that. German speakers describe it as extreme coziness both physically and emotionally, like sitting around a fireplace, sipping hot cocoa with close friends.
“His Instagram Stories were filled with wistful illustrations of woodland creatures sipping cordial in scenes of gemutlichkeit.”
Mutterseelenallein
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A spiritual antonym to getmutlichkeit might be mutterseelenallein, the feeling of being totally and completely alone in the world.
“The young goth’s mutterseelenallein inspired him to punch yet another hole in his drywall.”
Weltschmerz
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Weltschmerz is probably familiar to a good chunk of us at the moment. It means to be discouraged by the difference from how the world is to how you wish it was.
“As 2025 loomed, much of the population prepared for an understandable onslaught of weltschmerz.”
Fernweh
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Fernweh is a deep, painful urge to travel. Somewhat like wanderlust, also a German word, dialed up until it hurts.
“He pulled into his usual spot at Dunkin’ Donuts and slowly shifted into park, his body almost shaking with fernweh.”
Torschlusspanik
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A word anyone over 30 will have use for, torschlusspanik is the feeling that you're running out of time and have missed out on life's opportunities.
“Pasting another stock photo into the backend of the website he wrote for, he did his best to fight off the grasp of torschlusspanik.”
Zweisamkeit
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Why we all swipe through the hell of Hinge, pretending we think Burning Man is cool. Zweisamkeit is the feeling of perfect togetherness between two people, usually but not always romantically.
“With distress, he absorbed the zweisamkeit radiating from his ex’s wedding photos.”
Fruhjahrsmudigkeit
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Fruhjahrsmudigkeit is a word for a feeling in a specific time frame. It describes a feeling of lethargy that hits specifically in early spring.
“It was, undoubtedly, a lovely day to go for a walk, but she only sunk further into fruhjahrsmudigkeit, tapping listlessly and inaccurately at the sudoku on her phone.”
Flughafenbegrussungsfreude
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Okay, now this one we could have a debate on the efficiency of. Not sure we’re saving time or moisture when spitting out flughafenbegrussungsfreude, the feeling of being reunited with a loved one after a long time apart.
"You can’t have a good rom-com without an airport scene absolutely dripping with flughafenbegrussungsfreude."
