Meaning & use
nostalgic
Last updated
UK/nəˈstældʒɪk/
US/nəˈstældʒɪk/
Meaning
adjectivecomparable
Feeling a warm, slightly sad longing for a past time or place.
Grammar: Often predicative after “feel” or “be”; commonly takes “for” or “about.”
Patterns
- feel nostalgic
- nostalgic for the past
- nostalgic about childhood
- nostalgic memory
The old song made her nostalgic for summer holidays.
He became nostalgic whenever he walked past his old school.
Looking through the photos made everyone slightly nostalgic.
Common combinations
- feel nostalgic
- I always feel nostalgic when I smell fresh bread from the bakery.
- nostalgic for the past
- She is not nostalgic for the past; she prefers her present life.
- nostalgic about childhood
- He spoke nostalgically about childhood summers by the lake.
- nostalgic look
- The café has a nostalgic look, with vinyl records and old posters.
Synonyms and how they differ
- wistful
- Wistful is a gentle, often quiet sadness; nostalgic usually includes warm memories.
- sentimental
- Sentimental is broader emotion; nostalgic is specifically about longing for the past.
- evocative
- Evocative describes something that brings memories back; nostalgic describes the feeling itself.
Word family
- nostalgia noun
- A sentimental longing for the past.
- nostalgically adverb
- In a way that shows longing for the past.
Practice
Looking at her first apartment key made Mara ___.
Choose one answer.
An object from the past naturally triggers nostalgia. “Nervous” and “noisy” do not match the memory context; “modern” is an adjective but the wrong meaning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “nostalgic”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.
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