hiraeth
Language: Welsh · [ˈhɪraɪ̯θ] · Pronunciation: HEER-eyeth
More Welsh words · More words for a feeling
Pronunciation: Christopher Griffits · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Meaning
a deep longing for a home you cannot return to — or that never was
The story
Hiraeth is homesickness with time mixed in: a longing for a Wales that lies back down the years, or that never quite existed. It is sung more than spoken, carried by male voice choirs and rugby crowds. English homesickness assumes the home is still there.
The four rounds
- Which language is it from?
- Welsh
- Which feeling does it carry?
- A heavy, wistful pull in the chest
- Where would you hear it?
- A Welsh choir singing of the valleys
- What does it mean?
- An ache for a home lost to time
How it went
Round two, feeling, was where most points went.
The most common guess for the translation was 'homesick'. Close, but not it.
More Welsh words
- cwtch practice word
a hug that is also a safe place — a cuddle
More words for a feeling
- scunnered blind word
thoroughly fed up, sick of it - firgun 2026-09-27
open-hearted, ungrudging delight in another person's success - dépaysement 2026-09-30
the pleasantly strange feeling of being far from everything familiar - þetta reddast blind word
it will all work out somehow - toska 2026-09-26
a vague, aching restlessness of the soul, longing for it knows not what - voorpret 2026-09-07
the pleasure you take in something before it happens — anticipation
2026-10-02 · ‹ Previous word · All words