Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A vague feeling of bodily discomfort, as at the beginning of an illness.
- n. A general sense of depression or unease: "One year after the crash, the markets remain mired in a deep malaise” ( New York Times).
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Uneasiness; discomfort; specifically, an indefinite feeling of uneasiness, often a preliminary symptom of a serious malady.
Wiktionary
- n. A feeling of general bodily discomfort, fatigue or unpleasantness, often at the onset of illness.
- n. An ambiguous feeling of mental or moral depression.
- n. Ill will or hurtful feelings for others or someone.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Med.) An indefinite feeling of uneasiness, or of being sick or ill at ease.
WordNet 3.0
- n. physical discomfort (as mild sickness or depression)
Etymologies
- From the French malaise ("ill ease"), from mal ("bad") + aise ("ease"). Compare ill at ease. (Wiktionary)
- French, from Old French : mal-, mal- + aise, ease; see ease. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“* Carter did not use the word malaise in his politically disastrous televised speech of July 15, 1979.”
“And another thing too - when a malaise is as commonplace as 'street harassment/eve teasing' is, we become somewhat indifferent to it.”
“A pledge for a better tomorrow, a commitment by African leaders to liberate the continent from what they call a malaise of underdevelopment and exclusion.”
“Ronald Reagan seized on that malaise message - worth noting that the word "malaise" never appeared in Carter's speech - and cast himself as an optimist who believed the best times were still ahead for the country.”
The Washington Post: National, World & D.C. Area News and Headlines - The Washington Post
“Jimmy Carter's "malaise" speech - one in which the word malaise does not, curiously enough, appear - was delivered 30 years ago, on July 15, 1979.”
WN.com - Articles related to Online job activity takes step back
“One wonders if the hiring of some of our young people with the best computational skills by the financial industry that contributed so much to our current malaise is something to celebrate.”
“Institute President Mark Baldassare said voters are not moved by any of the candidates for major office this year, and their malaise is reflected in the high number of undecided voters.”
The Huffington Post: California Elections: Polls Find Close Races For Governor, Senate
“What Mortimer Zuckerman fails to say in his excellent critique of the housing malaise is the downside of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy.”
The Wall Street Journal: Housing Market Needs To Bottom Out to Rise
“Further, the usual second-term malaise could end up making the Obama-Clinton administration unpopular as she goes into the 2016 campaign.”
“But Stewart's coarse attempt at diagnosing the nation's malaise is at its core about denigrating the value of public protest.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘malaise’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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Test Prep or Just for fun
Building a list for standardized test prep or just for learning some new words! Please add any words that you feel are important for the SAT/GRE/GMAT etc...
throng, morass, parley, facile, kismet, strife, jetsam, carrion, annex, harbinger, vestige, surreptitious and 575 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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2nd part
prelude, ample, escalate, prototype, accession, acquisition, archives, zealot, indict, verdict, intimidating, timid and 454 more...
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Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
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Interesting
iridescent, luminescent, gossamer, blithe, illusory, halo, cygnet, covet, bloody, iris, pruinose, limerence and 15 more...
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Sorrow is better than laughter; for b...
lachrymose, sorrow, melancholic, wail, mournful, sob, misery, wretchedness, anguish, agony, heartbreak, lament and 38 more...
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Loan words from French
gite, coq au vin, dernier cri, clique, hors d'œuvre, touché, naïve, coquette, bourgeois, contretemps, flâneur, film noir and 63 more...
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magoosh1
aberration, aboveboard, abysmal, ace, affable, aghast, alacrity, ambiguous, ambivalent, ameliorate, amenable, amiable and 222 more...
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Words
Playa
schadenfreude, quixotic, serendipity, loquacious, ubiquitous, aforementioned, inherently, superfluous, dissonance, tersely, poignant, plethora and 108 more...
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Words I Know
List of most of the words I've learned
garner, abase, abate, abdicate, abduct, aberration, abet, abhor, abide, abject, abjure, abnegation and 1046 more...
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GRE verbal 1
GRE
hypocrisy, wizened, arcane, nascent, trifling, malaise, quibble, derogatory, inept, recant, splenetic, insouciance and 21 more...
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Vocabulary
Words I come across while reading.
talus, echelon, onanistic, cabochon, avocation, charnel, moue, portentous, prolixity, astringent, hoary, patina and 165 more...
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GRE AWA
escalating, vehement, vehemence, hostility, paparazzi, regime, irrespective, scoop, exaggerated, overblown, unfetter, scrupulous and 272 more...
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Stumbled Words
A list of words that I stumbled upon while reading.
penumbra, prolix, propitious, resplendence, sepulchral, Weltschmerz, apparition, brigand, probity, chalice, paroxysm, pallor and 160 more...
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ADW1
obdurate, obstinate, behest, injunction, enjoin, circumspect, ensconce, discursive, lugubrious, doleful, somber, ken and 2476 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for malaise.
tchaymore "The sort of general malaise that only the genius possess and the insane lament." -- Dr. Evil Mar 5, 2012
hernesheir Might go good on "brains and eggs" that I've seen on menus in rural diners in the deep south of the USA. Nov 6, 2009
bilby A bad sauce made in Kuala Lumpur. Nov 6, 2009
jorge999 'malaise' ... a bad sauce Nov 6, 2009
andrew.simone not to be confused with the sandwich dressing. Dec 7, 2006