Weltschmerz

Weltschmerz (from the German, literally world-pain, also world-weariness) is a term coined by the German author Jean Paul in his 1827 novel Selina. It denotes the kind of feeling experienced by someone who believes that physical reality can never satisfy the demands of the mind. In its original meaning in the Deutsches Wörterbuch by Brothers Grimm, it denotes a deep sadness about the world's insufficiency (tiefe Traurigkeit über die Unzulänglichkeit der Welt). The translation can differ depending on context; in reference to the self it can mean "world-weariness", while in relation to the world it can mean "the pain of the world".