twinge of sadness
1
4.1
- noun
:
punzada de tristeza
- A twinge of sadness caught her as she considered her own life now: a diplomat, a bureaucrat, a mediator, always trying to calm things down, always working for the peace and prosperity of the New Republic.
- feel a twinge of sadness
Examples
-
As she watched her childhood home being sold, a twinge of sadness filled her heart.
-
Can't I just drop the books and go? "Call me sometime," Iva Lou says with a twinge of sadness.
Fiction book (2000) -
As twilight neared, storekeepers began to prepare for closing. It was with reluctance and a twinge of sadness that I headed home.
Fiction book (1997) -
When he left for college, she felt a sharp twinge of sadness about their impending separation.
-
After saying goodbye to his friends, a twinge of sadness washed over him as he drove away.
Synonyms
28
5.6
A sudden sharp pain that is often a quick feeling of guilt or sadness
1
3.9
A slight feeling of sadness that is not strong
Antonyms
How Sad
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a brief, sharp feeling of sadness' is directly and predictably derived from combining 'twinge' (a quick, sharp pang) with 'sadness' using the common 'twinge of X' noun + prepositional phrase pattern; the function word 'of' merely links the two nouns. This compositional structure is straightforward and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words would readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Twinge of sadness comes from the word twinge, which used to mean a quick, sharp pain like a small poke in the body. Imagine that small poke happening in your feelings; that's why twinge of sadness means a short, sudden feeling of 'sadness'.