Meanings
- uncountableThe state or characteristic of being world-weary; a feeling of fatigue or exhaustion with the state of the world or with one's life.
Call me blasé—I do not mind, if by blasé is meant the world-weariness, intellectual, artistic, sensational, which can come to a young man of thirty. For I was thirty, and I was weary of all these things—weary and in doubt.
1914, Jack London, chapter 8, in The Mutiny of the ElsinoreSynonyms: apathy, jadedness, weltschmerz
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe state or characteristic of being world-weary; a feeling of fatigue or exhaustion with the state of the world or with one's life.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Bulgarian ми́рова скръб
- ми́рова скръб (mírova skrăb)characteristic of being world-weary
Chinese Mandarin 厭世 /厌世
- 厭世 /厌世 (yànshì)characteristic of being world-weary
Czech světabol
- světabolcharacteristic of being world-weary
Dutch weltschmerz
- weltschmerzcharacteristic of being world-weary
Esperanto mondopereo
- mondopereocharacteristic of being world-weary
Finnish maailmantuska
- maailmantuskacharacteristic of being world-weary
German Weltschmerz
- Weltschmerzcharacteristic of being world-weary
Hebrew צַעַר הָעוֹלָם
- צַעַר הָעוֹלָם (tsaár haolám)characteristic of being world-weary
Hungarian világfájdalom
- világfájdalomcharacteristic of being world-weary
Icelandic heimshryggð
- heimshryggðcharacteristic of being world-weary
Polish Weltschmerz
- Weltschmerzcharacteristic of being world-weary
Russian мирова́я скорбь
- мирова́я скорбь (mirovája skorbʹ)characteristic of being world-weary
Slovak svetobôľ
- svetobôľcharacteristic of being world-weary
Spanish weltschmerz
- weltschmerzcharacteristic of being world-weary
Swedish världssmärta, världströtthet
- världssmärtacharacteristic of being world-weary
- världströtthetcharacteristic of being world-weary
Ukrainian світова́ скорбо́та, світови́й біль
- світова́ скорбо́та (svitová skorbóta)characteristic of being world-weary
- світови́й біль (svitovýj bilʹ)characteristic of being world-weary
Cite this entry
world-weariness. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/world-weariness
“world-weariness.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/world-weariness. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “world-weariness,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/world-weariness.
Source: world-weariness on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.