Saudade
[SOH-dahd]
Part of speech: noun
Origin: Portuguese, 20th century
1.
A feeling of longing, melancholy, or nostalgia that is supposedly characteristic of the Portuguese or Brazilian temperament.
Examples of Saudade in a sentence
"On the first warm day of every year, Elena was overwhelmed with a feeling of saudade for her childhood home in Brazil."
"The Portuguese musical genre fado combines acoustic guitar with soaring, melancholy vocals full of saudade."
About Saudade
“Saudade” is a loanword from Portuguese that describes a feeling of melancholic longing and missing something or someone.
Did you Know?
There’s no English equivalent for “saudade,” a loanword from Portuguese. Both Portuguese and Portuguese-speaking Brazilian cultures and their people have the reputation of being full of sad emotions or nostalgic longings for things and people long past, or circumstances that cannot exist. This particular type of melancholy is called “saudade,” and it has helped fuel Portuguese art and also “fado,” a folk genre that combines acoustic guitar with vocalists singing songs of lament, longing, and loneliness. While fado remains a popular style within Portugal, it has been overshadowed by the rise of Portuguese pop and rock music, some of which maintains a mood of saudade.
