Meaning & use
anhedonic
Last updated
Meaning
adjectivecomparablemedical
Unable to feel pleasure from things that are normally enjoyable, such as food, friends or hobbies.
Grammar: Can follow a linking verb: she felt anhedonic; or come before a noun.
Patterns
- feel anhedonic
- anhedonic symptoms
After months of depression, he became anhedonic and stopped enjoying music.
The doctor asked whether she felt anhedonic for most of the day.
Anhedonic patients often lose interest in their favorite activities.
Common combinations
- anhedonic depression
- Anhedonic depression can make every day feel flat.
- feel anhedonic
- Some people feel anhedonic after a major loss.
- anhedonic symptoms
- The therapy focused on anhedonic symptoms.
- anhedonic patient
- An anhedonic patient may not react to praise.
Synonyms and how they differ
- joyless
- Joyless is an ordinary word for a lack of happiness, while anhedonic is a clinical term for an inability to feel pleasure.
- apathetic
- Apathetic means not caring or showing interest, which is related but does not specifically mean being unable to enjoy things.
- numb
- Numb describes a lack of feeling of any kind, whereas anhedonic is only about pleasure.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: anhedonic or hedonic? anhedonic or anhidrotic?
anhedonic vs hedonic
Hedonic means related to pleasure, while anhedonic means lacking the ability to feel it.
anhedonic vs anhidrotic
Anhidrotic means unable to sweat and has a different medical meaning.
Practice
A patient who is anhedonic most likely...
Choose one answer.
Anhedonic means unable to feel pleasure. Insomnia, memory problems and anger are separate symptoms.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “anhedonic”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.