12 German Words With No English Equivalent
By the Eachday team ·
German has a reputation for long, stern words. Look closer and many of them turn out to be tender. German builds new words by snapping smaller ones together, so whenever its speakers noticed a feeling worth naming, they could simply assemble one. The result is a vocabulary full of emotional precision that English handles with a sentence, or not at all.
A fair warning about the word untranslatable. Every word can be explained; that is what this page does. What these twelve lack is a single English word that carries the same feeling. Each comes from Eachday's German pack, with the pronunciation, an example from a real sentence and the story of how the word was built.
The words: die Sehnsucht, die Gemütlichkeit, die Geborgenheit, der Feierabend, das Fernweh, die Vorfreude, die Torschlusspanik, das Kopfkino, die Waldeinsamkeit, die Wehmut, die Sternstunde, der Ohrwurm.
die Sehnsucht deep longing, yearning
/ˈzeːn.zʊxt/ · say ZAYN-zookt · noun
An intense, wistful longing for something distant or unattainable. Sehnen (to long) + Sucht (craving): an aching, almost addictive longing for something absent — a cornerstone of German Romanticism.
Eine leise Sehnsucht nach dem Meer.
A quiet longing for the sea.
Use it for the pull toward something you cannot quite have: a person, a place, a time that is gone.
die Gemütlichkeit cosy warmth and belonging
/ɡəˈmyːt.lɪç.kaɪt/ · say guh-MEWT-likh-kite · noun
A feeling of cosy warmth, ease and belonging. From Gemüt, the inner self. More than 'cosiness': a warm state of ease, friendliness and belonging — famously hard to translate.
Die Gemütlichkeit des kleinen Cafés.
The cosiness of the little café.
A long dinner with friends, candles lit, nobody checking the time. That is Gemütlichkeit, and it is about the whole room, not just the sofa.
die Geborgenheit a feeling of safety, warmth and belonging
/ɡəˈbɔʁ.ɡən.haɪt/ · say guh-BOR-gun-hite · noun
The warm feeling of being safe, sheltered and at home. From bergen, to shelter or salvage. The deep comfort of being utterly safe and held — a favourite German word for emotional security.
Die Geborgenheit der Familie.
The security and warmth of family.
Where Gemütlichkeit describes a place, Geborgenheit describes you: the feeling of being safe with someone.
der Feierabend the relaxing end of the workday
/ˈfaɪ.ɐˌʔaː.bənt/ · say FY-er-ah-bent · noun
The leisure time at the end of the working day. Feier (celebration) + Abend (evening): the cherished free time once work is done. Germans wish each other a good one like a small daily holiday.
Schönen Feierabend!
Have a nice evening (after work)!
Wishing a colleague schönen Feierabend on the way out is as ordinary in Germany as saying see you tomorrow.
das Fernweh longing for far-off places
/ˈfɛʁn.veː/ · say FAIRN-vay · noun
An aching longing to travel to distant places; wanderlust. Fern (far) + Weh (ache): the mirror image of Heimweh (homesickness) — an ache not for home but for the distant and unseen.
Im Winter packt mich das Fernweh.
In winter I'm seized by wanderlust.
English borrowed wanderlust from German, but Fernweh aches more. It is homesickness for places you have never been.
die Vorfreude the joy of anticipation
/ˈfoːɐ̯.fʁɔɪ̯.də/ · say FOR-froy-duh · noun
The joyful anticipation felt before a happy event. Vor (before) + Freude (joy): the happiness you feel before the good thing even arrives. Germans say it's the finest joy of all.
Die Vorfreude auf den Urlaub.
The anticipation of the holiday.
The week before a trip, counting the days, is often happier than the trip itself. German has a word for exactly that week.
die Torschlusspanik fear of missing out as time runs short
/ˈtoːɐ.ʃlʊs.pa.ˌniːk/ · say TOHR-shloos-pah-neek · noun
The anxious sense that time is running out to act. Literally 'gate-closing panic' — from the medieval rush to get inside the city gates before they shut at dusk.
Kurz vor vierzig packte ihn die Torschlusspanik.
Just before forty, a fear of running out of time gripped him.
It is often used about age and milestones: the rush to settle down, change careers or travel before the gate shuts.
das Kopfkino mind-movie, vivid imagining
/ˈkɔpf.ˌkiː.no/ · say KOPF-kee-noh · noun
The stream of vivid scenes that plays in your imagination. Literally 'head-cinema' — Kopf ('head') + Kino ('cinema') — the film that runs behind your eyes.
Bei der Geschichte lief das Kopfkino sofort los.
At the story, the mind-movie started right away.
When someone describes a scene and you cannot stop picturing it, that is Kopfkino. Germans often say it with a knowing smile.
die Waldeinsamkeit forest solitude
/ˈvalt.ˌʔaɪn.zaːm.kaɪt/ · say VAHLT-ine-zahm-kite · noun
The serene solitude of being alone in a forest. From Wald ('forest') + Einsamkeit ('solitude') — a Romantic-era word for the soul's peace among the trees.
Sie suchte die Waldeinsamkeit, um zur Ruhe zu kommen.
She sought forest solitude to find calm.
The word was popularised by the Romantic writer Ludwig Tieck, and it still names the particular quiet of a walk alone among trees.
die Wehmut wistful sadness
/ˈveː.muːt/ · say VAY-moot · noun
A gentle, bittersweet melancholy. From Weh ('ache') + Mut ('mood, spirit') — literally an 'aching mood', a tender sadness.
Mit leiser Wehmut dachte sie an früher.
With quiet wistfulness she thought of the old days.
Softer than grief and warmer than sadness. It is what you feel looking through old photos.
die Sternstunde finest hour, defining moment
/ˈʃtɛrn.ˌʃtʊn.də/ · say SHTERN-shtoon-duh · noun
A rare, luminous moment of triumph or significance. Literally 'star-hour' — Stern ('star') + Stunde ('hour') — a moment blessed as if by a favorable star.
Es war eine Sternstunde der Wissenschaft.
It was a finest hour of science.
Stefan Zweig titled a book of historical turning points Sternstunden der Menschheit. It works just as well for one person's finest evening.
der Ohrwurm catchy tune stuck in your head
/ˈoːɐ.vʊrm/ · say OHR-voorm · noun
A song or melody that keeps repeating in your mind. Literally 'ear-worm' — Ohr ('ear') + Wurm ('worm') — a tune that burrows into your head. English borrowed it whole.
Dieses Lied ist ein echter Ohrwurm.
This song is a real earworm.
The exception that proves the rule: English liked this one so much it adopted it as earworm.
How to keep them
Reading a list of twelve words is pleasant. Remembering them next week is another matter, and it mostly comes down to meeting each word again, spaced out, in context. We wrote up what actually makes new words stick, and none of it involves cramming.
The gentlest version is one word a day. Eachday puts a single German word on your home screen each morning, with its pronunciation, a real example and the story behind it, so you meet it every time you pick up your phone. Our German word of the day page has more about how it works. There is no streak to protect, so if you miss a day, the word simply waits.