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The word "saudades" was the the centerpiece of the closing ceremonies of the 2016 Rio Olympics.

It describes a feeling of melancholy or nostalgia not easily translated to English. Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguese (Brazilian Portuguese Dictionary) defines it as:

A somewhat melancholic feeling of incompleteness. It is related to thinking back on situations of privation due to the absence of someone or something, to move away from a place or thing, or to the absence of a set of particular and desirable experiences and pleasures once lived.

One NBC commentator "wish(ed) there was some word in English" to convey its meaning.

The word "saudades" was the the centerpiece of the closing ceremonies of the 2016 Rio Olympics.

It describes a feeling of melancholy or nostalgia not easily translated to English. Its definition in the Houaiss Dictionary of the Portuguese Language (Dicionário Houaiss da Língua Portuguesa, Lisbon, 2003) can be translated as:

saudade A more or less melancholic feeling of incompleteness linked by memory to being deprived of the presence of someone or something, of being separated from a place or thing, or to the absence of certain experiences or pleasures one experienced and considered as desirable by the person in question (often plural) <s. for/of a friend who is now living far way> <s. for/of a dead relative> <saudades for/of the Algarve> <s. for/of eating papaya> <s. of/for the beach> <saudades for/of the homeland> <s. for/of the good times>

One NBC commentator "wish(ed) there was some word in English" to convey its meaning.

The word was the the centerpiece of the closing ceremonies of the 2016 Rio Olympics. It describes a feeling of melancholy or nostalgia not easily translated to English. One NBC commentator "wish(ed) there was some word in English" to convey its meaning.

The word "saudades" was the the centerpiece of the closing ceremonies of the 2016 Rio Olympics. 

It describes a feeling of melancholy or nostalgia not easily translated to English. Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguese (Brazilian Portuguese Dictionary) defines it as:

A somewhat melancholic feeling of incompleteness. It is related to thinking back on situations of privation due to the absence of someone or something, to move away from a place or thing, or to the absence of a set of particular and desirable experiences and pleasures once lived.

One NBC commentator "wish(ed) there was some word in English" to convey its meaning.

The word was the the centerpiece of the closing ceremonies of the 2016 Rio Olympics. It describes a feeling of melancholy or nostalgia not easily translated to English. One NBC commentator"wish(ed) there was some word in English" to convey it's meaning.

The word was the the centerpiece of the closing ceremonies of the 2016 Rio Olympics. It describes a feeling of melancholy or nostalgia not easily translated to English. One NBC commentator "wish(ed) there was some word in English" to convey its meaning.