Nuance Dictionary / Love & Emotions
그리움 geu-ri-um
A deep, aching longing or yearning for someone/something missing
What does 그리움 mean?
그리움 (geu-ri-um) means: A deep, aching longing or yearning for someone/something missing.
You feel '그리움' for your hometown, your first love, or a deceased pet. It is a powerful, lingering attachment to the past that you cannot easily let go of.
Other sides of 그리움
◆ nostalgia — When natives use 그리움 in this retrospective sense, it carries a heavy, cinematic weight rather than casual reminiscing. It signals a quiet mourning for time slipped through the fingers—the neighborhood of your youth, a specific season of life, or the way things used to feel. Learners often confuse it with 추억 (choo-eok), which is just a neutral memory; 그리움 is the physical chest-tightness when you realize that memory is now a locked room.
◆ lyrical_pop — In everyday life, 그리움 is a heavy, quiet ache for someone or something lost to time. But in K-pop lyrics and emotional ballads, it undergoes a stunning transformation: it stops being a psychological wound and becomes an aesthetic accessory. Learners often treat it as a direct synonym for 'missing someone,' missing the way lyricists weaponize it to sound impossibly poetic, fragile, and deeply romantic.
◆ lyrical_pop — In everyday life, 그리움 is a heavy, quiet ache for someone or something lost to time. But in K-pop lyrics and emotional ballads, it undergoes a stunning transformation: it stops being a psychological wound and becomes an aesthetic accessory. Learners often treat it as a direct synonym for 'missing someone,' missing the way lyricists weaponize it to sound impossibly poetic, fragile, and deeply romantic.
How it's actually used
- 문득 고향에 대한 그리움이 밀려왔다.
mundeuk gohyange daehan geuriumi millyewatda.
A sudden wave of longing for my hometown washed over me.
💡 Often used with verbs like '밀려오다' (to wash over) or '느끼다' (to feel). - 그리움이 지쳐서 이제는 눈물도 안 난다.
geuriumi jichyeoseo ijeneun nunmuldo an nanda.
I'm so tired of missing them that I don't even cry anymore.
💡 Expresses a deep, exhausting ache for the past. - 오랜만에 고향에 내려가니 옛 생각이 나면서 깊은 그리움이 밀려왔다.
oranmane gohyange naeryagani yet saenggagi namyeonseo gipeun geuriumi millyowatda.
Going down to my hometown after a long time brought back old memories and a deep wave of longing.
💡 Use this to describe a sudden wave of homesickness or nostalgia.