Ennui is a feeling of sad, dull boredom that you get when life itself seems boring or pointless. Ennui usually lasts for a long time: it's not something you feel for just a moment or just a day.
The word "ennui" comes from a French word that means "annoyance." When your entire life is annoying you because it's all the same, day after day, with no happiness and no excitement, then you might be suffering from ennui.
Ennui is different from the kind of temporary boredom that we all experience now and then. If you're waiting in line one day with nothing to do, you're experiencing boredom. If you're taking a long car ride and you have nothing new to play with, you're experiencing boredom. But if you're going to the same kind of party that you've gone to fifty times before, and you're feeling sad and dull, as if the party means nothing to you and brings you no joy? You're experiencing ennui.
Just like ennui is different from boredom, it's also different from depression. Depression is a mood disorder: your doctor can help you know if you have it and help you make it better. But ennui is not a disorder. It's a feeling, or an attitude toward life.
"Ennui" is a fancy, flashy, fashionable word. Most of the time, you don't need this word; you can express your ideas just fine with common words like "sadness," "dullness," "boredom," and "weariness."
Make a flash card:
You can write your own definition and choose your own picture, or copy mine.
Term
Definition
Picture
ennui
a deep, long-lasting feeling that life is boring, pointless, and meaningless
Write your own sentence!
You can use either of the two ideas I'll suggest, or you can invent your own. Include as much detail as you can!