ressentiment
Americannoun
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any cautious, defeatist, or cynical attitude based on the belief that the individual and human institutions exist in a hostile or indifferent universe or society.
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an oppressive awareness of the futility of trying to improve one's status in life or in society.
Etymology
Origin of ressentiment
From French, dating back to 1940–45; resentment
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
His mixture of insult, ressentiment, and buffoonery is a work of genius.
From Salon
"Redistribution" is a bad word, reeking of ressentiment, only to be applied to measures that would benefit the lower three-quarters of the population.
From Salon
In life if not in his philosophy, the ressentiment of those nursing a grievance is often directed downward, from those who have little to those who have less.
From Salon
By stoking ressentiment and algorithmically-driven marketing that pressures deliberating citizens to become impulse-buying consumers, Trump ushered millions into a political twilight zone where democracy is suspended by strongmen.
From Salon
It will be because our society's growing moral bankruptcy and injustices will stoke more ressentiment, whose bearers will look for — and find — a new and potentially more dangerous iteration of Trump.
From Salon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
