VELT´-shmay´-ahts
(German, literally ‘world pain’ or ‘world sorrow’)
Weltschmerz, a fusion of the German welt (‘world’) and schmerz (‘pain’), is a state of sadness, generally brought on by comparing the actual state of the world with an ideal state.
Since Weltschmerz is capitalized in its native German, keep it capitalized–it’s more snobby that way.
The bombings in Syria filled Sylvia with a feeling of Weltschmerz.