nostalgic
nostalgic — adjective
1. experiencing a warm, slightly sad happiness when remembering enjoyable events, p
experiencing a warm, slightly sad happiness when remembering enjoyable events, people, or places from earlier times.
Darius felt nostalgic when he found his old school yearbook in the attic.
predicative use: feel + nostalgic
The old folk song made Hiro nostalgic about the long summer holidays of his childhood.
pattern: make + [person] + nostalgic + about
Élise became nostalgic as she flipped through the faded photographs of her grandparents' house.
The scent of baked apples brought a nostalgic memory of dinners at her aunt's house.
Walking through the old schoolyard where they played as children, the sisters grew deeply nostalgic.
- wistful
emphasises quiet, sad longing for something possibly unattainable, while nostalgic includes a warm, happy element
- sentimental
suggests excessive or mawkish tenderness about memories; can be slightly negative
- homesick
specific to longing for a particular place (home), not a past time
- forward-looking
focused on the future rather than the past
- unsentimental
not swayed by tender memories
文法句型
feel nostalgic (about/for something)
become/grow nostalgic
make someone nostalgic
a nostalgic + noun
用法筆記
This adjective works both predicatively (after a linking verb — feel nostalgic, become nostalgic) and attributively (before a noun — a nostalgic song, a nostalgic memory). In attributive position the word often describes something that creates nostalgia in the listener or viewer, not just the feeling itself.
常見錯誤
nostalgic — noun
1. a person who often feels a warm, slightly sad happiness about the past and tends
a person who often feels a warm, slightly sad happiness about the past and tends to hold on to memories, objects, or customs from earlier times.
Sahil is a true nostalgic who keeps every ticket stub from his student days abroad.
countable noun: a + true + nostalgic
The retro arcade was full of nostalgics playing the video games of their 1990s childhood.
plural form: nostalgics
My grandmother is a real nostalgic who hums the lullabies from her childhood in Ghana.
Adaeze calls herself a nostalgic because she collects vinyl records from the 1960s.
- sentimentalist
broader and sometimes more negative, suggesting excessive emotion
- traditionalist
values past customs but emphasises preservation rather than emotional longing
文法句型
a nostalgic
nostalgics (plural)
true/real nostalgic
用法筆記
This countable noun is less common than the adjective form. It appears more often in informal or descriptive writing than in everyday conversation. When used, it typically has a gentle or affectionate tone.