tristesse

See also: Tristesse

English

Etymology

From Middle English trestesse, tristes, tristesce, tristesse, tristice, from Middle French tristesse.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɛs

Noun

tristesse (uncountable)

1. (literary) sadness
   • 1992, Douglas Adams, Mostly Harmless (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy), page 52:

     The robot let out a long heartfelt sigh of impassioned tristesse and sank reluctantly away from the ceiling.

   • 2007 January 14, Liesl Schillinger, quoting Martin Amis, “Siberian Fields”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     “The peculiar resonance of his postcoital tristesse, for example.”

Anagrams

• resistest

Dutch

Etymology

From French tristesse.

Noun

tristesse f (plural tristesses, diminutive tristessetje n)

1. tristesse

French

Etymology

First attested in Old French as tristesce, tristece. From triste +‎ -esse, modeled after Latin trīstitia.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tʁis.tɛs/
• Rhymes: -ɛs

• audio

  (file)

Noun

tristesse f (plural tristesses)

1. sadness

   la tristesse durera ― the sadness will last

   • 1932, Paul Éluard, “À Peine Défigurée”, in La Vie immédiate, Paris: Gallimard:

     Adieu tristesse / Bonjour tristesse / Tu es inscrite dans les lignes du plafond / Tu es inscrite dans les yeux que j’aime / Tu n’es pas tout à fait la misère / Car les lèvres les plus pauvres te dénoncent / Par un sourire

     Farewell sadness / Hello sadness / You are inscribed in the lines on the ceiling / You are inscribed in the eyes of those I love / You are not quite the same as misery / Because the weakest lips can denounce you / With a smile

Related terms

• triste

Descendants

• → English: tristesse

Further reading

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