Dictionary

malaise en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /mæˈleɪz/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /məˈleɪz/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /mɑˈleɪz/ (General-American)
• /-ˈlɛz/ (General-American)
• (US) audio
• /məˈleɪz/ (General-American)

Etymology

From French malaise (“ill ease”), from mal- (“bad, badly”) + aise (“ease”). Compare ill at ease.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) A feeling of general bodily discomfort, fatigue or unpleasantness, often at the onset of illness.
   • Addressing tech malaise has become a trend with authors and self-help coaches – such as Catherine Price, author of How to Break Up With Your Phone, who, during a $295, 50-minute phone call, will offer you advice on things like how to create roadblocks to checking your phone by putting a rubber band around your screen, and “think of the bigger picture” rather than what you’re missing on Twitter. 2019 August 21, Adrienne Matei, “Shock! Horror! Do you know how much time you spend on your phone?”, in The Guardian:
   • The Euston Rush hit the headlines last year. It also became synonymous with a lack of respect for passengers, a disregard for planning in stations, and a general malaise in the rail industry. 2025 November 12, Tom Edwards, “Tackling the 'Euston Rush'”, in RAIL, number 1048, page 32:
   • Volkswagen’s travails are symbolic of the nation’s overall economic malaise and a political crisis that collapsed the government in December, paving the way for early elections Feb. 23. 2025 January 27, Lenora Chu, “How Volkswagen slid from German engineering icon to innovation laggard”, in The Christian Science Monitor:
2. (countable, uncountable) An ambiguous feeling of mental or moral depression.
   • Their failure helped produce the widespread malaise reported by Thucydides: the Athenians "grieved over their private sufferings, the common people because, having started out with less, they were deprived even of that; the rich had lost their beautiful estates in the country, the houses as well as their expensive furnishings, but worst of all, they had war instead of peace" (2.65.2). 2003, Donald Kagan, The Peloponnesian War:
3. (countable, uncountable) Ill will or hurtful feelings for others or someone.

Forms

Deriveds

videomalaise · malaised

Relateds

disease

Synonyms

melancholy · unease · angst · doldrums · ill at ease · weltschmerz

Translations (47)

it malessere (bodily feeling) · ar عَلَز (bodily feeling) · ru недомога́ние (bodily feeling) · ja 不安 (ambiguous feeling of mental or moral depression) · ar أَسَف (ambiguous feeling of mental or moral depression) · el αδιαθεσία (bodily feeling) · de Unwohlsein (bodily feeling) · ko 불쾌감 (bodily feeling) · pt mal-estar (bodily feeling) · de Unbehagen (bodily feeling) · fi pahanolontunne (bodily feeling) · nl teneergeslagenheid (ambiguous feeling of mental or moral depression) · sh malaksalost (bodily feeling) · es malestar (bodily feeling) · hu gyengélkedés (bodily feeling) · cmn 不安 (ambiguous feeling of mental or moral depression) · fi mielipaha (ambiguous feeling of mental or moral depression) · ko 불안감 (ambiguous feeling of mental or moral depression) · ro indispoziție (bodily feeling) · ca malestar (bodily feeling) · fi pahanolontunne (ambiguous feeling of mental or moral depression) · ar كَرَب (ambiguous feeling of mental or moral depression) · ru дискомфо́рт (ambiguous feeling of mental or moral depression) · sv olust (bodily feeling) · ja 不快 (ambiguous feeling of mental or moral depression) · cmn 不舒服 (bodily feeling) · fr malaise (bodily feeling) · ar كَآبَة (ambiguous feeling of mental or moral depression) · hu rossz közérzet (bodily feeling) · nl ongesteldheid (bodily feeling) · ja 不快 (bodily feeling) · sv olust (ambiguous feeling of mental or moral depression) · cmn 欠安 (bodily feeling) · dsb njederjeměśe (bodily feeling) · sv sjukdomskänsla (bodily feeling) · cs malátnost (bodily feeling) · fa ناخوشی (bodily feeling) · ar تَوَعُّك (bodily feeling) · mk малаксаност (bodily feeling) · bg безпокойство (ambiguous feeling of mental or moral depression) · fi huonovointisuus (bodily feeling) · sv illamående (bodily feeling) · cmn 不適 /不适 (bodily feeling) · ga meath-thinneas (bodily feeling) · ga easláinte (bodily feeling) · bg неразположение (bodily feeling) · fa ناخوشی (ambiguous feeling of mental or moral depression)