Ressentiment

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ɹəˌsɑ̃.tiˈmɑ̃/

Definitions

1. A psychological state characterized by suppressed resentment and the resulting feelings of bitterness and hostility towards others
2. An emotional response involving a sense of injustice that leads to chronic resentment and a desire for revenge
3. A feeling of lingering hostility shaped by perceived wrongs that turn into bitterness and a long-lasting sense of grievance

Etymology: The French word "ressentiment" was once a plain synonym of "resentment" in the sense of re-feeling an emotion. Its root is the Latin "sentire", "to feel", which reached French as "sentir" and gave the verb "ressentir", meaning to feel again or feel deeply. The noun grew from that older sense of strong, repeated feeling. English borrowed it as a French word, and its modern bitter sense came from German. German writers used "Ressentiment" for a settled, brooding hostility born of feeling powerless against someone seen as superior, and English speakers adopted that meaning. So the word ended up with a richer, more specific emotional charge than its French ancestor carried. English already had "resentment" and "resentiment" from the same root, so "ressentiment" survives as a doublet, a second form of a shared ancestor kept for its German-tinged sense.