as in boredom
the state of being bored
the kind of ennui that comes from having too much time on one's hands and too little will to find something productive to do
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Recent Examples of ennui
The lyrics have the same anesthetized ennui as in emo rap and the new wave of online rock, but the beats are menacingly new and dead-set on defacing your consciousness.
—
Kieran Press-Reynolds, Pitchfork, 17 Dec. 2025
Seesawing stock prices fuel their ennui.
—Daniel De Visé, USA Today, 21 Nov. 2025
Utensils with Staying Power I’ve purged most of my cooking utensils in the past few years, motivated in part by the great black-plastic freakout, and in part by simple ennui.
—Helen Rosner, New Yorker, 16 Nov. 2025
Among the notable new names set to walk the halls of the ennui-addled series are Natasha Lyonne, Eli Roth, YouTube icon Trisha Paytas, True Blood star Sam Trammell, and Till luminary Danielle Deadwyler.
—Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 17 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ennui
Kieran Press-Reynolds, Pitchfork, 17 Dec. 2025
Seesawing stock prices fuel their ennui.
—Daniel De Visé, USA Today, 21 Nov. 2025
Utensils with Staying Power I’ve purged most of my cooking utensils in the past few years, motivated in part by the great black-plastic freakout, and in part by simple ennui.
—Helen Rosner, New Yorker, 16 Nov. 2025
Among the notable new names set to walk the halls of the ennui-addled series are Natasha Lyonne, Eli Roth, YouTube icon Trisha Paytas, True Blood star Sam Trammell, and Till luminary Danielle Deadwyler.
—Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 17 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ennui
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ennui
boredom
Noun
-
Pets staying at home alone while owners work suffer from boredom, which can cause chronic psychological distress and health problems.—
Margret Grebowicz,
Fortune,
13 Feb. 2026
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But the flip side of such routine is the potential for boredom and lethargy.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
10 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Ennui.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ennui. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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