English Language & Usage Asked by Alexander Smith on March 21, 2021
I have been struggling to find a word that I, at one time, had seen in my vocabulary lessons. I am trying to describe something that is “beautiful or attractive” yet also possessing “sadness or melancholy.” I think this word was most commonly used in the sense of describing a lady’s face, where the poignant feature was seen as “beautifully sad.”
I might say “the damsel’s face showed lines of worry and stress, and her eyes dripped a touch. Her tousled hair and reddened skin made her a ‘pathetic and beautiful’ mess.”
As much I try searching for this word, “pathetic” is the closest I’ve come to finding it. This word could be a borrowed one and potentially naturalized.
What about solemn:
Or pensive:
Answered by ib11 on March 21, 2021
"mess" pretty much deflates all lofty sentiment there. When the cat barfs on the kitchen floor it's a "mess", and when a car drives through a puddle and splashes your suit you're a "mess". I suppose you could call the "damsel" a forlorn mess.
The word forlorn can mean sad, in a pitiful way. A knight could ride up to your damsel-in-distress and ask:
Why so forlorn, lady?
Answered by TRomano on March 21, 2021
The two salient descriptions you want to address (beauty and sadness) would seem to be in conflict, and there are many descriptive words for each. You might choose the words "paradox" or "enigmatic" in context to describe the two conflicting ideas. There would seem to be many possibilities using these words or something similar.
"the damsel's face showed lines of worry and stress, and her eyes dripped a touch. Her tousled hair and reddened skin made her a 'paradox of beauty'."
or
"the damsel's face showed lines of worry and stress, and her eyes dripped a touch. Her tousled hair and reddened skin framed her in a certain 'enigmatic beauty'."
Answered by user22542 on March 21, 2021
Melancholy itself can describe this. Sadness alone tends to imbue a sense of forlorn or general unhappiness. Melancholy often rings with a sense of beauty or serenity in the face of sadness.
In Russian, Тоска (Toska) describes this in a way. It's a very multifaceted and variant sadness that is often wrought with beauty.
Your initial "pathetic and beautiful mess" is actually really good, assuming that folk read pathetic literally rather than commonly. I can definitely envision that.
Answered by Jesse Williams on March 21, 2021
Tristesse
Means a state of ongoing sadness.
And being French in origin, and pretty sounding, might do the job for your damsel.
How about:
the damsel's face showed lines of worry and stress, and her eyes dripped a touch. Her messed-up hair and reddened skin made her a tousled portrait of tristesse.
Answered by Jelila on March 21, 2021
Could the word you're looking for be wistfulness? I've actually been looking for the same word recently. Poignant is another one I saw recently.
Answered by Jenn Sidhe on March 21, 2021
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