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Make Your Point, Jr. > Words in ABC Order > ennui

   Study the word ENNUI:
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(Source)
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.


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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.


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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.


(Source)

"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:
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You can write your own definition and choose your own picture, or copy mine.

TermDefinitionPicture
ennui a deep, long-lasting feeling that life is boring, pointless, and meaningless




  Write your own sentence!
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You can use either of the two ideas I'll suggest, or you can invent your own. Include as much detail as you can!


(Source)
  Write a sentence with the word ENNUI:
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Remember: if you have ennui, you have the feeling that life is one long, boring, repetitive, meaningless slog.

Idea 1: "In my opinion, the best way to banish ennui is to (do some specific thing that helps other people or creates something new and joyful)."

Idea 2: "(Something) is so (fun or funny) that I guarantee it will cure your ennui."


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