20 Untranslatable Words English Had to BorrowIkigai, schadenfreude, saudade, and more
Some feelings are so specific that only one language ever named them. These are the words English speakers reach for when their own dictionary runs out.
Linguists argue about whether any word is truly untranslatable — you can always paraphrase. But a paraphrase is not a word. Schadenfreude can be explained in nine English words; it cannot be said in fewer than one German one. That compression is why English keeps borrowing.
Each entry below gives the meaning, an example, and — where the word has earned a permanent place in our library — a link to its full illustrated entry with etymology and usage notes.
ikigai
JapaneseMeaning: one's reason for being; the thing that makes life feel worth living
Example: Her ikigai was never the title or the salary — it was the morning hours in the studio.
See the full entry for ikigaischadenfreude
GermanMeaning: pleasure derived from another's misfortune
Example: A ripple of schadenfreude ran through the office when the boastful rival's demo crashed.
See the full entry for schadenfreudesaudade
PortugueseMeaning: a deep, bittersweet longing for something or someone absent — perhaps forever
Example: The old fado songs are saturated with saudade for ships that never returned.
See the full entry for saudadewabi-sabi
JapaneseMeaning: beauty found in imperfection and impermanence
Example: The cracked glaze of the teacup is not a flaw but its wabi-sabi.
hygge
DanishMeaning: cozy, convivial contentment — warmth, candlelight, good company
Example: Thick socks, mulled wine, and an old film: a perfect evening of hygge.
wanderlust
GermanMeaning: a strong, restless desire to travel and explore the world
Example: Every spring the wanderlust returned, and with it the browser tabs full of train routes.
See the full entry for wanderlustzeitgeist
GermanMeaning: the defining spirit or mood of a particular period
Example: The album captured the zeitgeist so completely that it now serves as a time capsule.
See the full entry for zeitgeistdéjà vu
FrenchMeaning: the eerie feeling of having experienced the present moment before
Example: Walking into the unfamiliar kitchen, she was seized by inexplicable déjà vu.
See the full entry for déjà vuje ne sais quoi
FrenchMeaning: an indefinable, attractive quality
Example: The apartment was small and oddly laid out, yet it had a certain je ne sais quoi.
See the full entry for je ne sais quoitsundoku
JapaneseMeaning: acquiring books and letting them pile up unread
Example: His nightstand was a monument to tsundoku: eleven books, three bookmarks, zero finished.
komorebi
JapaneseMeaning: sunlight filtering through leaves
Example: The path was dappled with komorebi, shifting with every breath of wind.
fernweh
GermanMeaning: an ache for distant places; homesickness for somewhere you've never been
Example: The documentary about Patagonia left her with a week of incurable fernweh.
sprezzatura
ItalianMeaning: studied carelessness; making the difficult look effortless
Example: His talk was pure sprezzatura — ten hours of rehearsal disguised as improvisation.
hiraeth
WelshMeaning: longing for a home you cannot return to, or that never was
Example: The émigré's novels all circle the same hiraeth for a vanished city.
sisu
FinnishMeaning: stoic determination and grit in the face of adversity
Example: Down two sets and cramping, she won on sisu alone.
lagom
SwedishMeaning: not too little, not too much — exactly enough
Example: The design is lagom: nothing missing, nothing wasted.
mono no aware
JapaneseMeaning: a gentle sadness at the transience of things
Example: Cherry blossoms owe their power to mono no aware — they are beautiful because they fall.
ubuntu
Nguni BantuMeaning: I am because we are — humanity through community
Example: The relief effort embodied ubuntu: no one ate until everyone ate.
carpe diem
LatinMeaning: seize the day; make the most of the present moment
Example: Carpe diem is not recklessness; it is refusing to postpone life forever.
See the full entry for carpe diemmemento mori
LatinMeaning: remember that you will die; a reminder of mortality
Example: He kept an hourglass on the desk as a memento mori — finite sand, finite hours.
See the full entry for memento moriLearn the words that stick
Segue's Complex Emotions and foreign-phrase collections include these words and hundreds more — each with an illustration, etymology, and practice tools.
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