malaise

[ ma-leyz, -muh-; French ma-lez ]

/ mæˈleɪz, -mə-; French maˈlɛz /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR malaise ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a condition of general bodily weakness or discomfort, often marking the onset of a disease.

a vague or unfocused feeling of mental uneasiness, lethargy, or discomfort.

Nearby words

malaga, malagasy, malagasy republic, malaguena, malagueña, malaise, malakal, malalignment, malam, malamud, malamud, bernard

Origin of malaise

1760–70; < French, Old French; see mal-, ease

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for malaise

It is a nostalgic, old-fashioned novel that nevertheless reflects the malaise of its era and prefigures our own technophiliac age.
Zen, Motorcycles, And The Cult of Tech: How Robert Pirsig’s Classic Anticipated the Future|Nathaniel Rich|August 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Moral equivalence and malaise, rather than red-hot ideology, motivates Haydon.
Iran’s Top Spy Is the Modern-Day Karla, John Le Carré’s Villainous Mastermind|Michael Weiss|July 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
To combat the malaise, fast food joints are pursuing a high-low strategy, or, as I prefer to dub it, the “Moms and Bros” strategy.
Burger King Introduces Big King to Taunt McDonald’s and Stagnating Overall Sales|Daniel Gross|November 6, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Let us refuse to let this day of dying fade into memory and the malaise of resignation to things as they are.
After Newtown, This Has to Be the Time for Gun Control|Robert Shrum|December 14, 2012|DAILY BEAST

Romney's malaise, likely, is the result if an uninspiring vision and a shaky economic message.
Why Romney Can’t Seal the Deal|Daniel Stone|February 15, 2012|DAILY BEAST
This time he walked with considerable difficulty, and I noticed an expression of pain and malaise upon his rubicund countenance.
Doctor Therne|H. Rider Haggard
The patient suffers from malaise, indigestion, constipation and irregular, rapid and forcible action of the heart.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 14, Slice 5|Various
I am oppressed by a feeling of inappropriateness and malaise at the sight of philosophy in the pulpit.
Amiel's Journal|Henri-Frdric Amiel
Malaise, an uneasy feeling which often precedes a serious attack of some disease.
The Nuttall Encyclopaedia|Edited by Rev. James Wood
Purpura rheumatica commonly begins with malaise, anorexia, debility, sometimes with mild fever.
A System of Practical Medicine By American Authors, Vol. II|Various

British Dictionary definitions for malaise

malaise

/ (mæˈleɪz) /

noun

a feeling of unease or depression

a mild sickness, not symptomatic of any disease or ailment

a complex of problems affecting a country, economy, etcBulgaria's economic malaise

Word Origin for malaise

C18: from Old French, from mal bad + aise ease

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for malaise

malaise

c.1300, maleise "pain, suffering; sorrow, anxiety," also, by late 14c., "disease, sickness," from Old French malaise "difficulty, suffering, hardship," literally "ill-ease," from mal "bad" (see mal-) + aise "ease" (see ease (n.)). The current use is perhaps a mid-18c. reborrowing from Modern French. A Middle English verbal form, malasen "to trouble, distress" (mid-15c.), from Old French malaisier, did not endure.

malaise

noun

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Origin of malaise

Examples from the Web for malaise

British Dictionary definitions for malaise

malaise

noun

Word Origin for malaise

Word Origin and History for malaise

malaise

Medicine definitions for malaise

malaise

n.