Word of the Day

Sunday December 13, 2009

• Today's Word |
• Yesterday's Word |
• Previous Words |
• Subscribe Now

malaise [muh-LAYZ; -LEZ]

noun

1. An indefinite feeling of uneasiness, or of being sick or ill at ease.
2. Physical discomfort, as mild sickness or depression.

• Her first feature, 2001's The Swamp , explored two families in a crumbling vacation home dealing with heat, rain, alcoholism, accidents, claustrophobia and spiritual malaise.
  Liam Lacey, "Call her Argentina's Almodovar", The Globe and Mail, Nov 27, 2009
• To combat consumer malaise and the economic negatives, retailers are poised to offer unprecedented deals to attract post-Thanksgiving shoppers.
  Kevin McQuaid, "RETAILERS BRACE FOR CRITICAL DAY", Sarasota Herald Tribune, Nov 26, 2009
• Then the sheer necessity of knowing something of the case which he had to open at half-past ten that morning forced him to a concentration which never quite subdued the malaise at the bottom of his heart.
  John Galsworthy (1867 - 1933) An English novelist and playwright. Five Tales (1918)

Origin of the Word

Malaise, approximately 1768, derives from French malaise, literally "ill-ease," from mal "bad" + aise "ease."