ressentiment
/ɹəˌsɑ̃.tiˈmɑ̃/
ressentiment means a sense of resentment arising from deep-seated feelings of envy or hatred, leading the resentful one to blame it on an external agent. It carries an Arena rating of 1521, earned across 2 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, ressentiment ranks #536 of 17,138 for Most Incisive Words, #3,299 of 17,132 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #3,768 of 17,128 for Most Ponderous Words, #5,163 of 17,124 for Most Sublime Words.
ressentiment is pronounced /ɹəˌsɑ̃.tiˈmɑ̃/.
Why “ressentiment” is a great word
A psychological state of deep-seated resentment, often stemming from envy and impotence, which manifests as a blaming hostility directed outward. From French ressentiment, from ressentir (“to feel strongly, resent”), from Old French sentir, from Latin sentīre (“to feel”); the specific psychological sense is a semantic loan from German Ressentiment, notably used by Friedrich Nietzsche in 1887. Unlike resentment, a broader indignation at a perceived wrong, or envy, the covetous desire itself, ressentiment is the chronic, poisonous sediment that envy deposits when left to stagnate in a vessel of perceived powerlessness. It is the muttered critique of joy, the moral superiority claimed by the excluded, and the slow, secret crafting of a worldview where one’s own weakness is recast as another’s villainy—a silent, spiritual revenge against a universe that refuses to acknowledge one’s grievances.
Etymology
From French ressentiment, from an archaic usage of the verb ressentir, via Old French sentir from Latin sentiō, sentīre (“to feel”); in the second sense a semantic loan from German Ressentiment. Doublet of resentiment and resentment.
noun
- a sense of resentment arising from deep-seated feelings of envy or hatred, leading the resentful one to blame it on an external agent.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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