The word for today is…

manque (adj) – Unfulfilled or frustrated in the realisation of one’s ambitions or capabilities.

Source : The Free Dictionary

Etymology : After a noun, “that might have been but is not,” 1778, from French manqué (fem. manquée), past participle of manquer “to miss, be lacking” (16th century), from Italian mancare, from manco, from Latin mancus “maimed, defective,” from PIE *man-ko- “maimed in the hand,” from root *man- “hand.” Also “defective, spoiled, missing” (1773). Compare obsolete or dialectal mank “maimed, mutilated, defective” (1510s), which seems to be a nativized form of the French word. Modern British slang manky “bad, inferior, defective” (by 1958) might also be from these.

Peter is a fourth-generation New Zealander, with his mother's and father's folks having arrived in New Zealand in the 1870s. He lives in Lower Hutt with his wife, some cats and assorted computers. His...