katzenjammer

American  

[kat-suhn-jam-er] / ˈkæt sənˌdʒæm ər /

noun

1. the discomfort and illness experienced as the aftereffects of excessive drinking; hangover.

2. uneasiness; anguish; distress.

3. uproar; clamor.

   His speech produced a public katzenjammer.

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katzenjammer British  

/ ˈkætsənˌdʒæmə /

noun

1. a confused uproar

2. a hangover

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Etymology

Origin of katzenjammer

From German: “hangover,” literally, “wailing of cats,” equivalent to Katzen (plural of Katze cat ( def. ) ) + Jammer “discomfort,” Old High German jāmar (noun and adjective) “misery; sad”; cf. yammer; katzenjammer def. 1 was first recorded in 1840–50; and katzenjammer defs. 2 and katzenjammer 3 in 1895–1900

Explanation

A katzenjammer is an unpleasantly loud, confused, and dissonant sound. A katzenjammer next door might keep you awake all night and make you cranky all the next day. The noun katzenjammer, while considered somewhat outdated today, has at times been used colloquially to mean various kinds of unpleasant sensations, from general confusion to depression to noisy uproar to a bad, dull headache. The word means "cat's wail" in German, from katze, "cat," and jammer, "distress" or "wailing."

Example Sentences

"You do everything, in short, that contributes to a magnificent case of physical, emotional, financial and spiritual katzenjammer."

From Time Magazine Archive

Every one can stand his fifteen glasses … I suppose I am an ass, and perhaps it's only moral katzenjammer on account of this past week.

From The Indian Lily and Other Stories by Lewisohn, Ludwig

They were good-natured enough while the girls were about, but over their work and during their leisure, they developed what Honey described as every kind of blue-bean, sourball, katzenjammer and grouch.

From Angel Island by Gillmore, Inez Haynes

Should he find a man suffering with katzenjammer he would pronounce him a "suspect."

From Brann the Iconoclast — Volume 10 by Brann, William Cowper

You've got an awful katzenjammer from the Stokes' dinner, and all you men ought to be horsewhipped for letting yourselves in for such a party.

From The Heart of Rachael by Norris, Kathleen Thompson