fatigue
Americannoun
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weariness from bodily or mental exertion.
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a cause of weariness; slow ordeal; exertion.
the fatigue of driving for many hours.
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Physiology. temporary diminution of the irritability or functioning of organs, tissues, or cells after excessive exertion or stimulation.
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Civil Engineering. the weakening or breakdown of material subjected to stress, especially a repeated series of stresses.
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Also called fatigue duty. Military.
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labor of a generally nonmilitary kind done by soldiers, such as cleaning up an area, digging drainage ditches, or raking leaves.
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the state of being engaged in such labor.
on fatigue.
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Military. fatigues. see fatigues.
adjective
verb (used with object)
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to weary with bodily or mental exertion; exhaust the strength of.
Endless chatter fatigues me.
- Synonyms:
- enervate, debilitate, tire
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Civil Engineering. to subject (a material) to fatigue.
verb (used without object)
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to become tired or exhausted.
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Civil Engineering. (of a material) to undergo fatigue.
noun
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physical or mental exhaustion due to exertion
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a tiring activity or effort
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physiol the temporary inability of an organ or part to respond to a stimulus because of overactivity
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the progressive cracking of a material subjected to alternating stresses, esp vibrations
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the temporary inability to respond to a situation or perform a function, because of overexposure or overactivity
compassion fatigue
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any of the mainly domestic duties performed by military personnel, esp as a punishment
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( as modifier )
fatigue duties
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(plural) special clothing worn by military personnel to carry out such duties
verb
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to make or become weary or exhausted
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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
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antifatigueadjective
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fatigableadjective
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fatiguelessadjective
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unfatiguingadjective
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fatiguinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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fatiguesimple
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fatiguessimple
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have fatiguedperfect
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has fatiguedperfect
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am fatiguingprogressive
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are fatiguingprogressive
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is fatiguingprogressive
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have been fatiguingperfect progressive
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has been fatiguingperfect progressive
Past
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fatiguedsimple
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had fatiguedperfect
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was fatiguingprogressive
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were fatiguingprogressive
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had been fatiguingperfect progressive
Future
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.
Vocabulary lists containing fatigue
List 2
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Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" Speech (1963)
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A Long Walk to Water
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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.
See Examples For:
As it worsens, however, it can lead to fatigue, chest pain, shortness of breath, fainting, heart failure, and in some cases premature death.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 13, 2026
He then missed a month because of illness and arm fatigue.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026
In the end, it was another tenacious, all-around performance from the current World No. 1, who now has five major titles and doesn’t really have a hole in his game, other than fatigue.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
Despite the signs of AI fatigue, Wood detects no signs of flagging commitment from the hyperscalers.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 10, 2026
Maybe it was just fatigue after her long journey there.
From "Homecoming" by Cynthia Voigt
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
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
Outside, the streets of Islamabad are flooded with armed security personnel in military fatigues, traffic diversions and police checkpoints.
From Barron's ● Apr. 10, 2026
Witnesses told the BBC that the Israeli soldiers had arrived disguised in Lebanese military fatigues and used ambulances with signs of Hezbollah's Islamic Health Organization.
From BBC ● Mar. 7, 2026
I have only what I fell asleep with—my fatigues and my dagger.
From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir
Mice with blocked neuron activity became fatigued much sooner and failed to gain endurance during the two-week training period.
From Science Daily ● May 16, 2026
“One would expect the market to become increasingly fatigued by the deluge of headlines and the back-and-forth,” analysts at ING say.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 11, 2026
The new franchise across the pond, “Saturday Night Live UK,” initially looked as though it might be an answer for fatigued viewers looking for a refresh, but even that show has stumbled.
From Salon ● Apr. 19, 2026
The Eyeball Care treatment included a mask filled with cool, aromatic steam to help relieve fatigued eyes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 6, 2026
Neither I nor the adversaries ever fatigued of it.
From "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly
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
Based in Norfolk and continuing to lose her sight she finds travelling fatiguing.
From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2023
Fifteen minutes of dicey, fatiguing crampon work brought me safely to the bottom of the incline, where I easily located my pack, and another ten minutes after that I was in camp myself.
From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
