Anemoia

Quick meaning: Anemoia is a noun meaning (neologism, uncommon) Nostalgia for a time or a place one has never known.

Meaning

(neologism, uncommon) Nostalgia for a time or a place one has never known.

Example Sentences

A White Christmas is the perfect example of anemoia, nostalgia for a time we never knew.

Yet, from reboots to genre revivals, nostalgia remains a powerful force in pop culture. So does an associated phenomenon, called anemoia, which is essentially nostalgia for a past you’ve never experienced. Nostalgia and anemoia have been Broadway’s bread and butter for decades.

The theme of that YouTube chat was the idea of anemoia, a niche form of nostalgia that prompts a yearning for a historical time and place that you have never actually experienced. Photographs can be perfect anemoia triggers, and this one works by layering retro longing from several different eras.

Goetzman (who also records his own own^([sic]) original music under the alias Raspberries and Rum) brought up another idea as a possible explanation for his Toto-based virality: anemoia. That’s the concept of a person feeling nostalgic for something they never experienced.[…]What I can say is this little video and its embedded nostalgia — or anemoia — seems to be bringing a little happiness to people all over the world.

Synonyms for anemoia

Depending on context, synonyms include fauxstalgia.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include anomia, neologian, neonism, neonym, neologianism, neophilia.

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