saudade
Americannoun
Usage
What does saudade mean? Saudade is a word for a sad state of intense longing for someone or something that is absent. Saudade comes from Portuguese culture, and it is often expressed in its literature and music. Saudade is described as a kind of melancholy yearning. Melancholy means sad, and yearning is a strong, persistent longing or desire, especially for something unattainable. In Portuguese literature and music, saudade is used as a theme or a motif, which is a recurring subject, idea, or element in an artistic work. Saudade is most often discussed in terms of its importance to Portuguese culture and for the supposed difficulty in translating it to English.
Etymology
Origin of saudade
First recorded in 1910–15; from Portuguese: literally, “yearning,” from Latin sōlitāt-, stem of sōlitās “loneliness, solitude” ( Latin -l- between vowels is lost in Portuguese); the original Old Portuguese soidade was changed to saudade by association with saudar “to greet” ( see salute 1 ( def. ))
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.
Other highlights included Finland's The Rasmus, whose visuals drew inspiration from the horror film It; and Portugal's Saro, whose low-key ballad Saudade, Saudade was a tribute to her late grandfather.
From BBC • May 14, 2022
"These street children are invisible in the community," Saudade said.
From Reuters • Nov. 10, 2021
Saudade teaches us that a degree of melancholy in life is inevitable – desirable, even – and something to be savoured rather than ignored.
From The Guardian • Oct. 27, 2018
The Constitution Saudade Theatre stages Portuguese playwright Mickaël de Oliveira’s drama about four actors tasked by their government with drafting a new constitution; performed in English.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 19, 2018
We then drove to the entrance of the footway leading to the Penedo da Saudade, a walk much affected by the Coimbrese.
From Memoirs of the Life and Correspondence of Henry Reeve, C.B., D.C.L. In Two Volumes. Volume II. by Laughton, John Knox
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.
