Ennui
[ɒn'wiː] or [ɑn'wi]
Definition
(n.) A feeling of weariness and disgust; dullness and languor of spirits, arising from satiety or want of interest; tedium.
Edited by Angus
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. [Fr.] Listlessness (for want of occupation), languor, tedium, lassitude, wearisomeness, tiresomeness, irksomeness.
Editor: Orville
Definition
n. a feeling of weariness or disgust from satiety &c.: the occasion of ennui.—v.t. to weary: to bore.—adj. Ennuy (鋘g-nwē-yā′) bored.
Editor: Stu
Examples
- They had passed a long wet day together without _ennui_. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- Why, you would die of ennui in a week. Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
- They were only a week married, and here was George already suffering ennui, and eager for others' society! William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- A chronometer-watch--a beetle--her soul fainted with utter ennui, from the thought. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- It keeps us from ennui and mischief, is good for health and spirits, and gives us a sense of power and independence better than money or fashion. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- He was now growing a little more tranquil, while Elliston was charming away his fears, as well as the _ennui_ of the audience. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- It saved me from ennui, he answered, yawning. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- I now had five shops, and with experimenting on this new scheme I was pretty busy; at least I did not have ennui. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- I have public business enough to preserve me from _ennui_, and private amusement besides, in conversation, books, and my garden. Benjamin Franklin. Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin.
- She used to tell the great man her ennuis and perplexities in her artless way--they amused him. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- I got through my teaching; I got over the intermediate hours; I saw evening approaching, and armed myself for its heavy ennuis. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
Edited by Brent