Trivia Time

Which field is associated with the formal psychological sense of "compassion fatigue"?

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fatigue

American  

[fuh-teeg] / fəˈtig /

noun

1. 

   weariness from bodily or mental exertion.

2. a cause of weariness; slow ordeal; exertion.

   the fatigue of driving for many hours.

3. Physiology. temporary diminution of the irritability or functioning of organs, tissues, or cells after excessive exertion or stimulation.

4. Civil Engineering. the weakening or breakdown of material subjected to stress, especially a repeated series of stresses.

5. Also called fatigue duty. Military.

   1. labor of a generally nonmilitary kind done by soldiers, such as cleaning up an area, digging drainage ditches, or raking leaves.

   2. the state of being engaged in such labor.

      on fatigue.

6. Military. fatigues. see fatigues.

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adjective

1. of or relating to fatigues or any clothing made to resemble them.

   The guerrilla band wore fatigue pants and field jackets.

   She brought fatigue shorts to wear on the hike.

verb (used with object)

• fatigues,
  present (3rd person singular)
• fatigued,
  past participle,  past
• fatiguing
  present participle

1. to weary with bodily or mental exertion; exhaust the strength of.

   Endless chatter fatigues me.

   Synonyms:

   enervate, debilitate, tire

2. Civil Engineering. to subject (a material) to fatigue.

verb (used without object)

• fatigues,
  present (3rd person singular)
• fatigued,
  past participle,  past
• fatiguing
  present participle

1. to become tired or exhausted.

2. Civil Engineering. (of a material) to undergo fatigue.

fatigue British  

/ fəˈtiːɡ /

noun

1. physical or mental exhaustion due to exertion

2. a tiring activity or effort

3. physiol the temporary inability of an organ or part to respond to a stimulus because of overactivity

4. the progressive cracking of a material subjected to alternating stresses, esp vibrations

5. the temporary inability to respond to a situation or perform a function, because of overexposure or overactivity

   compassion fatigue

6. 1. any of the mainly domestic duties performed by military personnel, esp as a punishment

   2. ( as modifier )

      fatigue duties

7. (plural) special clothing worn by military personnel to carry out such duties

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verb

1. to make or become weary or exhausted

2. to crack or break (a material or part) by inducing fluctuating stresses in it, or (of a metal or part) to become weakened or fail as a result of fluctuating stresses

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• antifatigue
  adjective
• fatigable
  adjective
• fatigueless
  adjective
• unfatiguing
  adjective
• fatiguingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• fatiguing
  present
• fatigued
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• fatigue
  simple
• fatigues
  simple
• have fatigued
  perfect
• has fatigued
  perfect
• am fatiguing
  progressive
• are fatiguing
  progressive
• is fatiguing
  progressive
• have been fatiguing
  perfect progressive
• has been fatiguing
  perfect progressive

Past

• fatigued
  simple
• had fatigued
  perfect
• was fatiguing
  progressive
• were fatiguing
  progressive
• had been fatiguing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will fatigue
  simple
• will have fatigued
  perfect
• will be fatiguing
  progressive
• will have been fatiguing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of fatigue

First recorded in 1685–95; from French verb fatiguer, from Latin fatīgāre “to tire”; noun derived from the verb

Explanation

Swimming and playing volleyball at the beach can make you tired and pleasantly wiped out, but long hours filling and emptying a wheelbarrow of dirt on a hot day brings fatigue, a far more draining kind of exhaustion. There is a noticeable difference between tiredness and fatigue. You can read a magazine or book before bed and get tired after a while, but if you work on math problems on a computer for a long time, you'll feel fatigue in your eyes, and maybe your brain will start to hurt. The Latin fatīgāre means to "tire out," "to fill to excess or to bursting." Even thinking about the Latin for fatigue brings some mental fatigue.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fatigue fatigues fatigued fatiguing

While a dozen different cellphone plans could create choice fatigue for a human shopper, an AI agent can easily compare different options and provide a recommendation.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026

Manganiello detailed debilitating abdominal pain, fevers, rashes, headaches, fatigue and ulcers in his digestive tract that caused bleeding and led to countless colonoscopies.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026

The man who initially fired the gun was wearing a long white shirt as well as military fatigue trousers and boots, which are commonly worn by soldiers, Wessels said.

From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026

The 55-year-old from Pencoed, Bridgend county, experienced increased fatigue and light vaginal bleeding but put it down to working extra hours and the menopause.

From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026

I supposed that a moment of weakness and fatigue on my part was exactly the invitation to injury she had in mind, though.

From "Ida B" by Katherine Hannigan

Some people waiting in food lines say they miss the leadership of a man who bestrode the island in his trademark green military fatigues and whose memory still looms.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

Meeting in Ankara with Sharaa, who has traded his guerrilla fatigues for a suit, Trump said, "He's doing an unbelievable job in unifying Syria. What a job he's doing."

From Barron's ● Jul. 8, 2026

Last Friday he was filmed in military fatigues, meeting commanders where he claimed victories on the front line and promised to take yet more territory.

From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026

Unlike he so often did in the months leading up to the US military intervention, Cabello was not wearing military fatigues.

From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2026

I bind her up using what's left of my shirt and some strips from her fatigues.

From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir

My grip strength, which is viewed as a marker of overall health, also didn’t correlate, and the clinician started a thoughtful conversation: Was I fatigued?

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 5, 2026

By the end of a set, your muscles should feel tense and fatigued.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 2, 2026

Shortly after its release, it went viral on Instagram reels and TikTok as creators used the song in a trend where they’d act fatigued before bursting into motion on beat.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026

In practice, that might mean having painkillers ready before your period, taking a rest day when symptoms are worse, or easing off a workout if you feel unusually fatigued.

From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026

The hunter preyed on the fatigued and weary.

From "Salt to the Sea" by Ruta Sepetys

To compensate, he encourages in-person discussions; failing that, video beats text, even if video meetings are fatiguing and can blunt creativity.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2025

Using this type of control, the researchers found that muscles could be stimulated for more than an hour before fatiguing, while muscles became fatigued after only 15 minutes using FES stimulation.

From Science Daily ● May 22, 2024

Journeying to play against MLS rivals, on the other hand, would add to what is already one of the most arduous and fatiguing travel schedules of any first-division league in the world.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 6, 2024

The clandestine Epstein Barr virus - a terrible fatiguing condition for an endurance athlete to suffer - preceded several crashes, most notably a huge somersault after colliding with a traffic island in Italy.

From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2023

Anyone with half an eye could see the posture was fatiguing to the point of exhaustion.

From "Cheaper by the Dozen" by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey

Related Words

• disable
• exhaust
• jade
• weaken