45 beautiful untranslatable words prompt list
Send one and I will make a drabble or a starter for our characters based on the word.
Forelsket (Norwegian): The indescribable euphoria experienced as you begin to fall in love.
Tsundoku (Japanese): Leaving a book unread after buying it.
Pålegg (Norwegian): Anything and everything you can put on a slice of bread.
Wabi-Sabi (Japanese): Finding beauty in imperfections.
Trepverter (Yiddish): A witty comeback you think of only when it’s too late to use.
Komorebi (Japanese): The sunlight that filters through the leaves of the trees
Fika (Swedish): Gathering together to talk and take a break from everyday routines; either at a cafe or at home, often for hours on end.
Saudade (Portuguese): The feeling of longing for something or someone that you love and which is lost.
Kilig (Tagalog): The feeling of butterflies in your stomach, usually when something romantic takes place.
Commuovere (Italian): Often taken to mean “heartwarming,” but directly refers to a story that moved you to tears.
Luftmensch (Yiddish): Refers to someone who is a bit of a dreamer; literally, an “air person.”
Tretår (Swedish): A second refill or “threefill” of coffee.
Extrawunsch (German): Used to call someone who is slowing things down by being fussy.
Hiraeth (Welsh): A particular type of longing for the homeland or the romanticized past.
Mokita (Kivila): The truth everyone knows but agrees not to talk about.
Dapjeongneo (Korean): When somebody has already decided the answer they want to hear after asking a question, and are waiting for you to say that exact answer.
Waldeinsamkeit (German): The feeling of solitude, being alone in the woods, and a connectedness to nature.
Dépaysement (French): The feeling that comes from not being in one’s home country; being a foreigner.
Iktsuarpok (Inuit): The feeling of anticipation that leads you to keep looking outside to see if anyone is coming.
Jayus (Indonesian): An unfunny joke told so poorly that one cannot help but laugh.
Mamihlapinatapei (Yagan): The wordless, meaningful look shared by two people who both desire to initiate something, but are both reluctant to do so.
Verschlimmbessern (German): To make something worse when trying to improve it.
Schadenfreude (German): The feeling of joy or pleasure when one sees another fail or suffer misfortune.
Fernweh (German): Feeling homesick for a place you have never been to.
Tingo (Pascuense): To gradually steal all the possessions out of a neighbor’s house by borrowing and not returning.
Pochemuchka (Russian): A person who asks too many questions.
Gökotta (Swedish): To wake up early in the morning with the purpose of going outside to hear the first birds sing.
Bakku-shan (Japanese): A beautiful girl— as long as she’s being looked at from behind.
Shlimazl (Yiddish): A chronically unlucky person.
Hanyauku (Rukwangali): The act of walking on tiptoes across warm sand.
Prozvonit (Czech): To call someone’s cell phone only to have it ring once so that the other person has to call back, allowing the caller to not spend money on minutes.
Iktsuarpok (Inuit): The frustration of waiting for someone to turn up.
Utepils (Norwegian): To sit outside on a sunny day and enjoy a beer.
Culaccino (Italian): The mark left on a table by a moist glass.
Age-otori (Japanese): To look worse after a haircut.
Toska (Russian): A sensation of great spiritual anguish, often without a specific cause; a longing with nothing to long for.
Tartle (Scottish): The act of hesitating while introducing someone because you’ve forgotten their name.
Cafuné (Brazilian Portueguese): The act of tenderly running one’s fingers through someone’s hair.
Torschlusspanik (German): The fear of diminishing opportunities as one ages.
Hyggelig (Danish): A warm, friendly, cozy demeanor.
L’appel du vide (French): Literally translated to “the call of the void”; contextually used to describe the instinctive urge to jump from high places.
Ya’aburnee (Arabic): A declaration of one’s hope that they’ll die before another person because of how unbearable it would be to live without them.
Duende (Spanish): The mysterious power that a work of art has to deeply move a person.
Sobremesa (Spanish): After-lunch conversation around the table.
Abbiocco (Italian): drowsiness from eating a big meal.
