ressentiment

See also: Ressentiment and resentiment

English

Etymology

From French ressentiment, from an archaic usage of the verb ressentir, via Old French sentir from Latin sentiō, sentīre (“to feel”); in the second sense a semantic loan from German Ressentiment. Doublet of resentiment and resentment.

Pronunciation

• (US) enPR: rə-säɴ'tē-mäɴʹ, IPA^(key): /ɹəˌsɑ̃.tiˈmɑ̃/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɹɛˌsɒ̃tɪˈmɒ̃/

Noun

ressentiment (countable and uncountable, plural ressentiments)

1. Obsolete form of resentment. [17th–18th c.]
2. (chiefly philosophy, social psychology) a sense of resentment arising from deep-seated feelings of envy or hatred, leading the resentful one to blame it on an external agent. [from 19th c.]
   • 1973, Philippa Foot, “Nietzsche: The Revaluation of Values”, in Robert C. Solomon, Garden City, editors, Nietzsche: A Collection of Critical Essays, New York: Anchor Books, page 157:

     When the weak call the strong evil the move is not merely defensive; it is also an expression of that peculiar malice which Nietzsche referred to as ressentiment. Those who cultivate humility and the other propitiatory virtues to cloak their weakness nourish an envious resentment against those stronger than themselves.

   • ibidem, page 167:

     If his attack on Christian morality and on other moralities is going to be worth anything he has got to be right about the effect of teaching pity and justice — that it merely hides the ressentiment of the weak while it does injury to the strong.

   • 2011, Steven Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature, Penguin, published 2012, page 632:

     Historians such as Liah Greenfield and Daniel Chirot have attributed the major wars and genocides in the early decades of the 20th century to ressentiment in Germany and Russia.

Translations

obsolete: resentment — see resentment

resentment arising from envy and hatred

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 無名怨憤／无名怨愤 (wúmíng yuànfèn), 無名怨忿／无名怨忿 (wúmíng yuànfèn), 怨恨 (zh) (yuànhèn)

• Dutch: verontwaardiging (nl) f,vrevel f,wrok (nl) f
• Finnish: kauna (fi)
• French: ressentiment (fr) m
• Japanese: 怨念 (ja) (おんねん, onnen), 恨み (うらみ, urami)
• Russian: злопыха́тельство (ru) n (zlopyxátelʹstvo), озлобле́ние (ru) n (ozloblénije)

Further reading

• “ressentiment”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “ressentiment, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “resentiment”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney and Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1914), “resentiment; resentment”, in The Century Dictionary: An Encyclopedic Lexicon of the English Language, revised edition, volume IV, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC, page 5100, column 2.

Anagrams

• resentiments

French

Etymology

From ressentir +‎ -ment, verbal root re- +‎ sentir from Old French sentir from Latin sentiō, sentīre (“to feel”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁə.sɑ̃.ti.mɑ̃/

• Audio (FR)

  (file)

• Audio (CAN)

  (file)

Noun

ressentiment m (plural ressentiments)

1. ressentiment, resentment

Further reading

• “ressentiment”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.