Standard Lemma guide

world-weariness

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The state or characteristic of being world-weary; a feeling of fatigue or exhaustion with the state of the world or with one's life.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

sadness on thinking about the evils of the world

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: Weltschmerz

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: melancholy

History

Etymology

From world-weary + -ness.

Across languages

Translations

21 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: համաշխարհային վիշտ (hamašxarhayin višt) — characteristic of being world-weary
  • Belarusian: сусве́тны сму́так (susvjétny smútak) — characteristic of being world-weary
  • Bulgarian: ми́рова скръб (mírova skrǎb) — characteristic of being world-weary
  • Chinese Mandarin: 厭世 /厌世 (yànshì) — characteristic of being world-weary
  • Czech: světabol — characteristic of being world-weary
  • Dutch: weltschmerz — characteristic of being world-weary
  • Esperanto: mondopereo — characteristic of being world-weary
  • Finnish: maailmantuska — characteristic of being world-weary
  • German: Weltschmerz — characteristic of being world-weary
  • Hebrew: צַעַר הָעוֹלָם (tsaár haolám) — characteristic of being world-weary
  • Hungarian: világfájdalom — characteristic of being world-weary
  • Icelandic: heimshryggð — characteristic of being world-weary
  • Macedonian: велтшмерц (veltšmerc) — characteristic of being world-weary
  • Polish: Weltschmerz — characteristic of being world-weary
  • Russian: мирова́я скорбь (mirovája skorbʹ) — characteristic of being world-weary
  • Slovak: svetobôľ — characteristic of being world-weary
  • Spanish: weltschmerz — characteristic of being world-weary
  • Swedish: världssmärta — characteristic of being world-weary
  • Swedish: världströtthet — characteristic of being world-weary
  • Ukrainian: світова́ скорбо́та (svitová skorbóta) — characteristic of being world-weary
  • Ukrainian: світови́й біль (svitovýj bilʹ) — characteristic of being world-weary