Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Listlessness and dissatisfaction resulting from lack of interest; boredom.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A painful or wearisome state of mind due to the want of any object of interest, or to enforced attention to something destitute of interest; the condition of being bored; tedium.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A feeling of weariness and disgust; dullness and languor of spirits, arising from satiety or want of interest; tedium.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A gripping listlessness or melancholia caused by boredom; depression (Wikipedia).

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the feeling of being bored by something tedious

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French, from Old French enui, from ennuyer, to annoy, bore; see annoy.]

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Examples

Comments

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  • Thank you, Edward Gorey.

    December 11, 2006

  • Zorak: Brak, be honest now. Are you or are you not totally and completely nuts? Well?

    Brak: I'm thinking!

    Space Ghost: Oh, this is all so childish. So meaningless.

    Brak: It's merely symptomatic of our postmodern ennui. There are no absolutes--unless you perceive our world as meaningless, when it's really your OWN freedom you detest! ... I like pork!

    January 27, 2007

  • Damn you nkocharh! I came here just to mention that line, thereby impressing the entire internet with my leet knowledge of counter-culture heroes. But I guess you're 51 days leeter than I.

    Seriously though - best Gorey line ever.

    February 1, 2007

  • This always reminds me of the Gashleycrumb Tinies.

    May 20, 2007

  • thank you, gustave flaubert

    July 8, 2007

  • Gotta have ennui.

    August 14, 2007

  • Interesting to compare and contrast weltschmerz with ennui.

    August 14, 2007

  • For Ennui is a growth of English root,

    Though nameless in our language:--we retort

    The fact for words, and let the French translate

    That awful Yawn which Sleep cannot abate.

    (Lord Byron)

    March 12, 2008

  • Pronounced "ahn·new·ee." Gorey's Gashleycrumb Tinies was a stroke of genius.

    March 15, 2008

  • Happy Wordie bisesquicentennial to ennui, who would take a bow, except that it's all just so --- what's the word? Oh, who cares, really?

    February 24, 2009

  • I'd reply to your comment, but I can't be bothered.

    February 24, 2009

  • Where can we apply to change the definition? "ennui" isn't boredom; it's being sick of life; it's a state of mind.

    April 27, 2009

  • 1. You can click the 'more' button to feel at least displeased and discontent.

    2. Go humbug Princeton.

    April 27, 2009

  • not sure if this is common knowledge in Wordie World, but "ennui" is derived from the same phrase "annoyed" is derived from; which is to say, "mihi in odio est" (Latin: "it is hateful to me").

    April 27, 2009

  • how hateful all this clicking is

    one is simply nauseous at it

    April 27, 2009

  • Now I learn from Bill that there were vampires who became afflicted with terrible remorse, or perhaps ennui, after a long life. -Charlaine Harris, Living Dead in Dallas

    December 11, 2010

  • Please tell me that Bill is a vampire too!

    A vampire named Bill would really be the icing on this whole Buffy / Twilight vampire cake.

    December 11, 2010

  • Wait a minute. Is bilby a vampire?

    December 11, 2010

  • After careful thought, I conclude I am not a vampire. Unless my victims have hommous coursing in their veins, in which case ...

    January 10, 2024

  • Have you ever heard of the "Bunnicula" books? The titular character is allegedly a vampire rabbit--but he's a vegetarian (he only sucks the juice out of vegetables).

    I know there's a lot of tension in the world of bunny-bilby relations, but maybe a shared love of hummus could be a place to start.

    January 10, 2024