nostalgia
noun
nos·tal·gia
nä-ˈstal-jə 
nə-
also nȯ-,
nō-;
nə-ˈstäl-
1
: a sad pleasure experienced in recalling what no longer exists : a wistful or sentimental yearning for a return to or the return of some real or romanticized past period or some irrecoverable past condition or setting
They were filled with nostalgia for their college days.
His family once worked at the local slaughterhouse, but their jobs have been automated into oblivion, leaving them with nothing but nostalgia for their old day-to-day.—
Jackson Arn
Jackson Arn
also
: something that evokes nostalgia
The play is also full of nostalgia—there are no phones in the play. —Sheryl DeVore
Sheryl DeVore 2
: the state of being homesick : homesickness
A wave of nostalgia swept over me when I saw my childhood home.
nostalgist
noun
plural nostalgists
… is no nostalgist chasing the resurrection of the grand old days.
—Joe O'Connor
Joe O'Connor
Examples of nostalgia in a Sentence
My own feelings were that since I'd jettisoned employment, marriage, nostalgia and swampy regret, I was now rightfully a man aquiver with possibility and purpose …
—Richard Ford, Independence Day, 1995
… the script is written in advance, around the uplifting themes of our civic religion: reconciliation, patriotism, self-sacrifice, the bond of leader and little guy, nostalgia for what is inevitably called "a simpler time."
—Katha Pollitt, Nation, 22 May 1995
Nevertheless, if one understands the nostalgia for war which marked these years of his break with America, it still remains a nostalgia that is empyreal and histrionic. Only once in his career did MacArthur lead as small a body of men as a company—one somehow feels that the idea of MacArthur, even as a boy, in command of anything less than a division verges on the ludicrous …
—William Styron, "MacArthur," 8 Oct. 1964,
in This Quiet Dust and Other Writings, 1982
A wave of nostalgia swept over me when I saw my childhood home.
He was filled with nostalgia for his college days.
Richard Ford, Independence Day, 1995
… the script is written in advance, around the uplifting themes of our civic religion: reconciliation, patriotism, self-sacrifice, the bond of leader and little guy, nostalgia for what is inevitably called "a simpler time."
—Katha Pollitt, Nation, 22 May 1995
Nevertheless, if one understands the nostalgia for war which marked these years of his break with America, it still remains a nostalgia that is empyreal and histrionic. Only once in his career did MacArthur lead as small a body of men as a company—one somehow feels that the idea of MacArthur, even as a boy, in command of anything less than a division verges on the ludicrous …
—William Styron, "MacArthur," 8 Oct. 1964,
in This Quiet Dust and Other Writings, 1982
A wave of nostalgia swept over me when I saw my childhood home.
He was filled with nostalgia for his college days.
Recent Examples on the Web
Niccol has espoused the hopes of returning Starbucks to a cozy third space, away from the image of being a hurried pitstop to pick up a morning espresso, and toward 1990s nostalgia of lingering over a latte.
—Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 31 Dec. 2025
Since we're constantly inundated with screens, there's now a sense of nostalgia for old-school technology.
—Shagun Khare, Martha Stewart, 31 Dec. 2025
But throughout 2025, various theaters and studios have also leaned into viewer nostalgia and in-person experiences.
—Austin Mullen, NBC news, 31 Dec. 2025
Angell had nostalgia for the gold standard, favored using commodity prices as a reference point for inflation and cast eight dissenting votes on the Federal Open Market Committee — tied for seventh-most by any governor in Fed history.
—Bloomberg, Mercury News, 31 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for nostalgia
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Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 31 Dec. 2025
Since we're constantly inundated with screens, there's now a sense of nostalgia for old-school technology.
—Shagun Khare, Martha Stewart, 31 Dec. 2025
But throughout 2025, various theaters and studios have also leaned into viewer nostalgia and in-person experiences.
—Austin Mullen, NBC news, 31 Dec. 2025
Angell had nostalgia for the gold standard, favored using commodity prices as a reference point for inflation and cast eight dissenting votes on the Federal Open Market Committee — tied for seventh-most by any governor in Fed history.
—Bloomberg, Mercury News, 31 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for nostalgia
Cite this Entry
“Nostalgia.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nostalgia. Accessed 5 Jan. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
Medical Definition
nostalgia
noun
nos·tal·gia
nä-ˈstal-jə, nə-, nȯ-; nə-ˈstäl-
1
: the state of being homesick
2
: a wistful or excessively sentimental sometimes abnormal yearning for return to or of some past period or irrecoverable condition
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