Ressentiment

/ɹəˌsɑ̃.tiˈmɑ̃/ · noun

Meaning

Obsolete form of resentment..

Definitions by Sense

1. Obsolete form of resentment.
2. (chiefly philosophy, social psychology) a sense of resentment arising from deep-seated feelings of envy or hatred, leading the resentful one to blame it on an external agent.

Example Sentences

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.

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.

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.

Synonyms for ressentiment

Antonyms for ressentiment

Related Words

Word Forms

• ressentiments

Usage Notes

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