Malcolm Boyd
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A recipe: combine a handful of the blahs, a pinch of the blues, and maybe a soupçon of ennui, season generously with “under the weather,” and voila, you’ve got yourself the stew of sinking sensations known as malaise. Malaise, whose Old French ancestor was formed from the combination of mal (“bad”) and aise (“comfort”), has been a part of English since the mid-18th century. It originally referred to a vague feeling of weakness or discomfort accompanying the onset of an illness—a meaning still in use today when a virus or other malady starts producing symptoms—but has since broadened to cover a general, ominous sense of mental or moral ill-being.
Examples of malaise in a Sentence
Brittney Van Matre, Forbes.com, 16 Apr. 2025
Walker and Altuve are paid to slug, too, signaling the root cause of Houston’s offensive malaise.
—Chandler Rome, New York Times, 14 Apr. 2025
That malaise worsened leading up to Trump’s announcement last week of sweeping tariffs, according to the survey.
—Bryan Mena, CNN Money, 11 Apr. 2025
Meanwhile, there may have been Democratic malaise about the Biden-Harris administration, but that pales in comparison to the current political firestorm over Trump’s spending cuts, tariffs and other legally questionable policies, all of which could significantly impact county residents.
—Michael Smolens, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for malaise
Cite this Entry
“Malaise.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/malaise. Accessed 30 Apr. 2025.
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