# nostalgia

/nɔˈstæɫdʒə/ (US) · /nəstˈældʒɐ/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/nostalgia
Updated: 2026-06-20

## Senses

### 1. longing for the past

noun · CEFR B2

a bittersweet feeling of missing the past or wanting to return to a time you remember fondly.

For teachers: a sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former place or time. Uncountable in general usage, though specific instances may be treated as countable.

- Hearing that old song filled him with nostalgia for his university days.
- The film relies heavily on 1980s nostalgia, using neon aesthetics and synth-pop music to evoke a specific sense of childhood wonder.

### 2. homesickness

noun · CEFR C2 · Archaic

a strong feeling of missing your home or your country when you are away.

For teachers: the original medical sense of acute homesickness or a longing for familiar surroundings. Now largely replaced by 'homesickness' in modern clinical contexts.

- The sailor suffered from a deep nostalgia for the green hills of his home.
- In eighteenth-century medical texts, nostalgia was often diagnosed as a physical ailment affecting soldiers stationed far from their native villages.

Usage: In modern English, this sense is almost entirely replaced by 'homesickness' unless writing in a historical context.

## Examples

- Hearing that old song filled me with nostalgia.
- The smell of fresh cookies always triggers a wave of nostalgia for my grandmother's kitchen.
- The film uses warm lighting and vintage costumes to evoke a sense of nostalgia for the 1950s, even for viewers who never lived through that era.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.