nostalgic

1 of 2

adjective

nos·​tal·​gic nä-ˈstal-jik 

nə-,

 also  nȯ-,

nō-;

nə-ˈstäl-

: feeling or inspiring nostalgia: such as

a

: longing for or thinking fondly of a past time or condition

As we drove through the French countryside, I couldn't help being not just nostalgic, but wistful, about how simple wine was 25 years ago.

—Matt Kramer

The protest mostly featured the usual suspects—anti-capitalists, environmentalists, union types chanting "Solidarity," and aging hippies nostalgic for their youth.

—Margaret Wente

b

: evocative of a longed-for past time or condition

He loved good stories, especially nostalgic ones from his boyhood, and relished the telling.

—Peter Schworm

He soon parlayed his nostalgic pictures into a business that would eventually include writing, antique collecting, museum operations, and reproduction-furniture making.

—David K. Leff

nostalgically

nä-ˈstal-ji-k(ə-)lē 

nə-

 also  nȯ-

nō-;

nə-ˈstäl-

adverb

thinking nostalgically of the summers they spent together

looking back nostalgically on happier times

nostalgic

2 of 2

noun

plural nostalgics

: someone who longs for a past time or condition : a person given to nostalgia

There are nostalgics on both sides who felt better with a predictably snarling standoff than with the uncertain paths now opening.

—Flora Lewis

Eventually it would become an empty shell, a refuge for nostalgics unable to accept the challenge facing all organizations in a changing world; adapt or perish.

—John L. H. Keep

Examples of nostalgic in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

Yet the hotel’s brand of nostalgic luxury is only one reason to visit; the other is its history. —Simon Willis, Travel + Leisure, 25 Apr. 2024

Nobody walked into that amphitheater expecting a nostalgic night of Crazy Horse classics that completely neglected the 18 albums Young has released since the turn of the millennium. —Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 25 Apr. 2024

All in all, the stage production was abstract and warm, nostalgic and distant, dreamy and vivid — just like Alvvays' music. —Journal Sentinel, 23 Apr. 2024

For those nostalgic for the Golden Age of jewelry, the store is the place for British and 19th-century styles. —Selene Oliva, Vogue, 22 Apr. 2024

Tour, a nostalgic nod to their record-breaking stadium tour in 1990. —Sonal Dutt, Peoplemag, 22 Apr. 2024

Routledge also cited a 2023 Harris Poll that found that Americans across generations are nostalgic for a time before smartphones. —Amanda Montell, Twin Cities, 21 Apr. 2024

But there's something nostalgic about a hot dog at Chase Field that cannot easily be replicated. —Endia Fontanez, The Arizona Republic, 18 Apr. 2024

By turns comic, romantic and heavily nostalgic, the opera is populated, in addition to its human characters, by all sorts of critters (a frog, a mosquito, a bunny, a bunch of hens and their rooster), all given the inclination to burst into song. —Randy McMullen, The Mercury News, 17 Apr. 2024

Noun

And there’s even that little red eraser ball cursor from back in the day for nostalgics. —Joel Balsam, Travel + Leisure, 6 Dec. 2023

In part, this game is for the nostalgics in the FC Cincinnati and Louisville City FC fan bases. —The Enquirer, 25 Apr. 2023

Making any changes to such beloved brands means balancing the new with the nostalgic. —Erich Schwartzel, WSJ, 6 May 2021

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

nostalg(ia) + -ic entry 1

Noun

noun derivative of nostalgic entry 1

First Known Use

Adjective

1782, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1874, in the meaning defined above