ennui
noun

- a feeling of weariness and dissatisfaction

- a feeling of listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of occupation or excitement

Oxford Languages, Merriam-Webster

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WORD ORIGIN

"Ennui" entered English directly from French in the mid-18th century (around 1750-1760)  meaning “boredom, tedium, weariness”, from Old French enui meaning annoyance, displeasure, trouble.

The Latin roots in odio literally "in hatred" or "in disfavor”,... in meanin “in, into”, and odium meaning “hatred, dislike, annoyance”. The meaning evolved from active dislike → passive indifference:

Latin: in odio = being hated, being the object of dislike
Old French: enui = annoyance, trouble, vexation
French: ennui = boredom, weariness, listlessness
English: ennui = sophisticated existential boredom

Ennui became prominent in 18th-century literature and philosophy and is associated with the Romantic movement and existential themes. 



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QUIET ALARMS

The French have long been associated with ennui as a cultural concept – think of existentialist philosophers like Sartre and Camus exploring life's fundamental meaninglessness.

In professional life, recognizing ennui is crucial for maintaining team motivation and productivity. Unlike burnout (exhausted and stressed), ennui looks like quiet disengagement. Employees do their work competently but contribute nothing extra. They're physically present but mentally somewhere else.

Sometimes, a touch of ennui is a hidden gift. It’s a quiet signal that something needs to change—not just for the individual, but for the whole organization. When leaders treat ennui as valuable feedback rather than a problem to suppress, they unlock opportunities for innovation and renewal. To invite honest conversations about what matters, and admitting that yes, a particular task really is pointless, and finding the courage to stop doing it entirely.

Helga & Paul Smith

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SYNONYMS

apathy, blahs, boredom, dejection, disenchantment, disillusionment, disinterest, dispiritedness, doldrums, dreariness, dullness, emptiness, ENNUI, existential fatigue, fatigue, glumness, heaviness, ho-hum feeling, indifference, languor, lassitude, listlessness, malaise, monotony, sloth, stagnation, tedium, torpor, unconcern, the same old same old, torpor, weariness, weltschmerz, world-weariness

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ANTONYMS

a fire in the belly, a heart in bloom, a light switched on inside, a new lease on life, a sunrise in the soul, alive and kicking, ardour, delight, eagerness, elation, enthusiasm, exhilaration, exuberance, full of beans, got my mojo back, head over heels, in the zone, invigoration, joy, jubilation, lightning in a bottle, on cloud nine, on fire, passion, purpose, rapture, raring to go, riding high, stimulation, sunlight pouring through the cracks, the wind in one’s sails, thrilled to bits, thunder in the chest, vitality, walking on sunshine, wings on the feet, wonder, zest, zeal

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SMUGGLE OWAD into an English conversation today, say something like:

"ENNUI is actually a quiet alarm that something urgently needs to be done.”

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