Meaning & use

ennui

noun·Advanced

A feeling of listlessness and dissatisfaction that comes from boredom or a lack of purpose.

See it in a sentence

A deep ennui settled over her during the long, uneventful summer at home.

He described the ennui of repetitive office work as a slow, gray fatigue of the mind.

A note on using this word

"Annui" is a misspelling of "ennui," a French loanword pronounced roughly "ahn-WEE" that suggests a deeper, more languid boredom than the plain word "boredom."

Words with a similar meaning

boredomlistlessnessweariness

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Make it your own

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