Synonyms

anhedonia

American

[an-hee-doh-nee-uh] / ˌæn hiˈdoʊ ni ə /

noun

Psychology.

lack of pleasure or of the capacity to experience it.

Severely depressed people often exhibit decreased interest in social interaction, disturbed concentration, and anhedonia.

Other Word Forms

anhedonic adjective

Etymology

Origin of anhedonia

First recorded in 1895–1900; from Greek an- + hēdon(ḗ) “pleasure” + -ia; an- ¹, -ia

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The team is now working with geneticists to pinpoint genes that may contribute to musical anhedonia.

From Science Daily • Jan. 12, 2026

People with musical anhedonia can recognize and process melodies without difficulty, showing that the auditory system itself is functioning normally -- they simply do not feel pleasure from the experience.

From Science Daily • Jan. 12, 2026

Depression also comes with anhedonia, or the inability to experience pleasure in activities or social situations that were once enjoyable.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 11, 2025

“My biggest symptom after that was extreme anhedonia, like a feeling of not being myself or getting pleasure from anything — almost not feeling human,” she said.

From Salon • Jun. 4, 2025

From that episode dates as typical an anhedonia as I have ever seen.

From The Foundations of Personality by Myerson, Abraham

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023