Word of the Day

: November 15, 2009

ennui

noun ahn-WEE

What It Means

: a feeling of weariness and dissatisfaction : boredom

ennui in Context

In reaction to the ennui that he was feeling after working for twelve years in an unchallenging position, Darrell began to look for a new career.

Did You Know?

The French loanword "ennui" comes from the very same Late Latin word that gave us "annoy" -- "inodiare" ("to make loathsome"). We borrowed "ennui" several centuries after absorbing "annoy" into the language. "Ennui" deals more with boredom than irritation -- and a somewhat specific sort of boredom at that. It generally refers to the feeling of jadedness that can result from living a life of too much ease. The poet Charles Lloyd described it well in his 1823 "Stanzas to Ennui" when he referred to that world-weary sensation as a "soul-destroying fiend" which visits with its "pale unrest / The chambers of the human breast / Where too much happiness hath fixed its home."