abulia
Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- noun Loss or impairment of the ability to make decisions or act independently.
Examples
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Unlike Holden, though, Dwight, who suffers from abulia, a disease characterized by a lack of will or initiative, is too sweetly vague to engage in a critique of the "phony" world around him.
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Svevo's subject is the weakness of the will, or abulia, and how a dreamy nature has little chance up against the temptations set out by the amazing and obdurate reality of life.
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In its normal and complete form will culminates in an act; but with wavering characters and sufferers from abulia deliberation never ends, or the resolution remains inert, incapable of realization, of asserting itself in practice.
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So they show a condition of perfect 'abulia,' or inability to will or act.
Talks To Teachers On Psychology; And To Students On Some Of Life's Ideals
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Their combination of driver abulia and hysteria and deadpan OnStar dispatchers - Sorry you swallowed a bee today, Ma'am - make them cherished burlesque moments on an otherwise bleak landscape for many radio listeners.
Note
The word 'abulia' comes from Greek roots meaning 'without' and 'will'.
