German

Noun

Ressentiment n ‎(genitive Ressentiments, plural Ressentiments)

1. resentment

Synonyms

• Abneigung, Groll

English

Noun

ressentiment ‎(countable and uncountable, plural ressentiments)

1. (obsolete) Resentment. [17th-18th c.]
2. (chiefly social psychology) A sense of resentment arising from suppressed feelings of envy and hatred, often leading to a frustrated sense of inferiority that may lead to various social repercussions. [from 19th c.]
   • 1973, Philippa Foot, “Nietzsche: The Revaluation of Values” in Nietzsche: A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Robert C. Solomon, Garden City, New York: Anchor Books, ISBN 0385033443, page 157:

     When the weak call the strong evil the move is not merely defensive; it is also an expression of that peculiar malice which Nietzsche referred to as ressentiment. Those who cultivate humility and the other propitiatory virtues to cloak their weakness nourish an envious resentment against those stronger than themselves.

   • ibidem, page 167:

     If his attack on Christian morality and on other moralities is going to be worth anything he has got to be right about the effect of teaching pity and justice — that it merely hides the ressentiment of the weak while it does injury to the strong.

   • 2011, Steven Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature, Penguin 2012, page 632:

     Historians such as Liah Greenfield and Daniel Chirot have attributed the major wars and genocides in the early decades of the 20th century to ressentiment in Germany and Russia.

Translations

French

Pronunciation

• /ʁə.sɑ̃.ti.mɑ̃/

Etymology

ressentir + -ment

Noun

ressentiment m ‎(plural ressentiments)

1. ressentiment, resentment