Why this word is great
WERTHERISM — [Noun] A state of morbid sentimentality or melancholic pessimism, particularly stemming from unrequited love, as epitomized by the titular hero of Goethe’s *The Sorrows of Young Werther*. From the proper name Werther (the protagonist of Goethe's novel) + the English suffix -ism (denoting a distinctive practice, system, or philosophy). Unlike "romanticism" (which celebrates emotion in all its forms) or "ennui" (which languishes in vague dissatisfaction), Wertherism is a precise agony—the exquisite torment of loving what cannot be had. It is the yellow waistcoat stained with ink from too many unsent letters, the pistol laid gently on the desk beside a lock of hair, the way the autumn light slants through a window and makes even the most ordinary room feel like the setting for a tragedy. To be Wertherian is to mistake suffering for depth, and to find, too late, that some loves are only beautiful in their ruin.