Wangst

Wangst, a portmanteau of “whiny” and “angst,” (or “wimpy” or “wah” or “whinging”… or possibly “wanker” or “wang” in especially irritating cases) is essentially angst gone wrong. The intended Woobie’s Appeal to Pity ends in an epic failure, and thus becomes a pathetically whiny character who insists on crying (often loudly and repeatedly) about a Dark and Troubled Past instead of, you know, trying to move on with their life. This is made even more annoying when the character’s “trauma” doesn’t come across nearly as tragic as they seem to think it does, compared with other people out there trying to endure yet still determined to solve the problem, making the character’s lamentations seem way out of proportion.

This is part of the “What are words for?” project.

This word scored a six on a three part scale of allusiveness, political oomph and cultural capital (min score 1, max score 3 for each part of the scale).  Lots of words did. This is one I clawed from the slushpile on a whim.