Emotions in German: 141 Words and Phrases

Adara Brotherton Date Published: 28 Nov 2023 Date Modified: 22 Aug 2024

German can be a wonderfully expressive language.

To help you fully express yourself, we’ve put together a list of useful words and phrases for talking about emotions in German.

With this vocabulary, you can describe practically any emotional state you might find yourself in.

Try to learn a few new words each day, and you’ll soon be an expert at communicating your feelings…in German!

How to Express Emotions in German
Adjectives to Describe Feelings in German
Verbs to Talk About Feelings and Emotions
German Nouns for Feelings and Emotions
Phrases to Express Your Feelings in German
German Idioms and Slang for Expressing Emotions
How to Practice Your Feelings Vocabulary
And One More Thing...

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How to Express Emotions in German

Before you peruse our vocabulary lists below, check out some basic phrases you can use to start expressing your feelings in German:

German	English	Example
Ich bin + [adjective]	I'm...	Ich bin froh. (I'm glad.)
*Ich fühle mich* + [adjective]	I feel...	Ich fühle mich glücklich. ( I feel happy.)
Mir ist + [noun]	I'm/I feel...	Mir ist langweilig. (I'm bored.) Mir ist schlecht. (I feel sick.)
Mir geht es + [adjective]	I 'm/I feel...	Mir geht es nicht so gut. (I'm not doing so well.) Mir geht es besser. (I'm feeling better.)
Ich habe... + [noun]	I have... /I am	Ich habe Heimweh. (I'm homesick. Literally: "I have homesickness.")

You can also add qualifiers to make a feeling or emotion more or less intense. These are adverbs that typically go before the adjective (or noun) to indicate its degree:

German	English
nicht	not
ein bisschen	a little bit
ziemlich	quite
eher	rather
sehr	very
wirklich	really
besonders	especially/particularly
extrem	extremely
voll	really/very
wahnsinnig	insanely
total	totally
komplett	completely

For example:

Ich bin heute sehr glücklich. (I’m very happy today.)

Er ist ziemlich aufgeregt. (He’s quite nervous.)

Wir waren total überrascht. (We were totally surprised.)

Adjectives to Describe Feelings in German

At some point, you’ve got to move beyond “Mir geht es gut, danke.” (I’m fine, thanks.) There are so many other ways to describe how you’re feeling in German!

German	English
glücklich	happy
froh	glad
fröhlich	cheerful
zufrieden	satisfied
begeistert	excited
dankbar	thankful
erleichtert	relieved
hoffnungsvoll	hopeful
inspiriert	inspired
interessiert	interested
freudig	joyous
selig	blissful
überglücklich	elated
traurig	sad
peinlich	embarrassed
übel	ill/sick/bad
satt	full/satiated
griesgrämig	grumpy/grouchy
deprimiert	depressed
ängstlich	anxious
furchtsam	fearful
beunruhigt	worried
genervt	annoyed
böse	angry
rasend	furious
überrascht	überrascht
erstaunt	erstaunt
fassungslos	stunned
schockiert	shocked
besessen	obsessed
eifersüchtig	jealous

Here are some examples:

Ich bin sehr erleichtert, dass ich die Prüfung bestanden habe. (I am very relieved that I passed the exam.)

Wir sind dankbar für die Unterstützung unserer Freunde. (We’re thankful for the support of our friends.)

Die Musik sorgte für eine fröhliche Stimmung. (The music created a cheerful atmosphere.)

Verbs to Talk About Feelings and Emotions

Before you start using these verbs, you may want to review how to conjugate German verbs to make sure you’re using them correctly.

German	English
sich fühlen	to feel
empfinden	to perceive
erleben	to experience
lieben	to love
hassen	to hate
mögen	to like
sich freuen über	to be happy about
traurig sein	to be sad
wütend sein	to be angry
sich ärgern	to be annoyed
überrascht sein	to be surprised
erschrecken	to scare/to be frightened
hoffen	to hope
sich freuen auf	to look forward to
sich fürchten vor	to be afraid of
genießen	to enjoy
bedauern	to regret
sich schämen	to be ashamed
staunen	to marvel/to be amazed
sich ekeln vor	to be disgusted by
lächeln	to smile
die Stirn runzeln	to frown
weinen	to cry
schreien	to yell
Mitleid mit jemandem haben	to pity someone
lachen	to laugh
jubeln	to cheer

See how these verbs are used in context:

Ich freue mich auf das Wochenende. (I’m looking forward to the weekend.)

Sie genießen die schöne Aussicht vom Balkon. (They’re enjoying the beautiful view from the balcony.)

Er ärgert sich über den verpassten Zug. (He’s annoyed about missing the train.)

German Nouns for Feelings and Emotions

Verbs and adjectives are useful for talking about how we feel. But sometimes we need some nouns to talk about feelings and emotions in general.

German	English
die Emotion	emotion
die Laune	mood
das Gefühl	feeling
die Liebe	love
die Freude	joy
der Hass	hate
die Hoffnung	hope
das Mitgefühl	sympathy
der Ärger	anger
die Trauer	sadness
die Furcht	fear
der Stolz	pride
die Verwirrung	confusion
der Hass	hatred
das Mitgefühl	compassion
die Gelassenheit	calmness
der Ekel	disgust
die Neugier	curiosity
die Dankbarkeit	gratitude
der Schmerz	pain
die Zufriedenheit	contentment
die Scham	shame
die Spannung	excitement
der Optimismus	optimism
die Einsamkeit	loneliness
die Langeweile	boredom
die Begeisterung	enthusiasm
die Sorge	worry/concern
die Geduld	patience
das Elend	misery
die Erleichterung	relief
die Sehnsucht	longing
die Verwirrung	confusion/puzzlement
die Depression	depression
die Angst	anxiety
die Schuld	guilt

Check out these examples for a better idea of how to use these nouns:

Ich habe die Freude an meiner Arbeit wiedergefunden. (I’ve found the joy in my work again.)

Sie ist immer noch in Trauer über den Verlust ihres Mannes. (She ist still in mourning over the loss of her husband.)

Trotz der Verwirrung, sprach er mit Gelassenheit. (He spoke calmly, despite the confusion.)

Phrases to Express Your Feelings in German

Before you start talking about your feelings in German, you should review the different cases and how to use them. For example, to say “I’m bored” you could use one of these two phrases:

Mir ist langweilig. (the dative case)
Ich habe Langeweile. (the accusative case)

With the nominative construction describing a state of being, if you said “Ich bin langweilig,” you’d actually be saying “I’m boring”!

Here are some more examples:

German	English
Mir ist übel.	I'm ill./I feel sick.
Nimm es mir nicht übel.	Don't take it the wrong way.
Mir ist peinlich.	I'm embarrassed.
Das ist mir peinlich.	That's embarrassing.
Ich bin begeistert!	I'm thrilled!
Ich habe Sorgen.	I'm worried.
Ich bin geduldig.	I'm patient.
Ich habe Geduld.	I have patience.
Ich fühle mich elend.	I feel awful.
Mir ist ganz elend.	I'm completely miserable.
Ich bin neugierig.	I'm curious.
Ich platze vor Neugier!	I'm bursting with curiosity!/I'm dying to know!
Sei nicht so neugierig.	Don't be so nosy.
Ich habe es satt.	I'm fed-up.
Ich bin erleichtert.	I'm relieved.
Das ist eine Erleichterung.	That's a relief.
Ich bin gut gelaunt.	I'm in a good mood.
Ich bin schlecht gelaunt.	I'm not in a good mood.
Ich bin launisch.	I'm moody.
Ich habe Sehnsucht nach Eis.	I'm craving ice cream.
Ich warte sehnsüchtig drauf.	I'm longing for it./I'm eagerly waiting for it./I can't wait.
Ich bin verwirrt.	I'm confused.
Ich bin optimistisch.	I’m optimistic.
Ich fühle mich euphorisch.	I feel euphoric.
Du bist so negativ.	You're so negative.

German Idioms and Slang for Expressing Emotions

There are some great German idioms you can use to express your emotions. For example, you can use “Du gehst mir tierisch auf den Keks” (You’re really annoying me) to express frustration with someone. It literally means “You’re really getting on my cookie”!

Or how about “Du hast wohl den Arsch offen,” or “You plainly have the butt open,” really meaning “You’re out of your mind/unreasonable.”

Germans also use slang to express their feelings:

Ich war total baff! (I was totally flabbergasted!)
Ich bin heute voll happy! (I’m really happy today!)
Mir gehts tip-top! (I’m doing great!)

Indeed, many English words are used in slang, mostly jargon and curse words. So keep your eyes and ears open, and before you know it, you’ll be feeling more comfortable expressing your German feelings.

How to Practice Your Feelings Vocabulary

Find Feeling Words in Famous Quotes

There are many short lines of poetic speech and famous quotes in German that can be easily translated. They often express feelings and emotions and can help you practice this vocabulary as well as the correct sentence structure.

Simply find a quote you particularly like, memorize it, repeat it and sooner or later the situation to use it will arise. For example, take this famous quote from Leo Tolstoy:

“Das Glück besteht nicht darin, dass du tun kannst, was du willst, sondern darin, dass du immer willst, was du tust.” (Happiness does not consist in doing what you want, but in always wanting what you do.)

Attend a Poetry Slam

If you’re planning to visit or live in Germany, try to find a poetry slam to attend. These modern urban poet competitions convey just as much feeling as the classic masters—albeit while often being edgier, urbanite and perhaps more relevant to our world today.

You may even catch a German slam in larger cities internationally and in North America—they’ve happened in NYC’s Goethe Institut. To keep up with events like poetry slams and German-language gatherings, check out Meetup.com. In the meantime, watch this slam video or this one with subtitles!

Consume Content from Native Speakers

If you aren’t able to catch a German slam in person, you can listen to native speakers using these feeling words online through various video and audio content.

Using resources like podcasts and YouTube channels is a great way to listen to native usage of these words without leaving your house. The Easy German YouTube channel has a large library of entertaining, subtitled videos targeted at learners. As you watch, pay attention to which words German speakers use to express their feelings:

You can also use an immersive language learning program to hear these new words and phrases in context.

FluentU takes authentic videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.

You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app or Android app.

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Bookmark this page and keep coming back to it whenever you need a refresher or want to learn a few more feeling words.

You’ll soon be able to express yourself—and your feelings—clearly and confidently in German!

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

And One More Thing...

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