anhedonia
/ˌan.hɪˈdəʊ.nɪə/
anhedonia means the inability to feel pleasure from activities usually found enjoyable, such as exercise, hobbies, music, sexual activities or social interactions. It carries an Arena rating of 1745, earned across 14 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, anhedonia ranks #1,536 of 17,138 for Most Incisive Words, #2,401 of 17,149 for Most Exacting Words, #2,512 of 17,132 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #3,258 of 17,131 for Scariest Words.
anhedonia is pronounced /ˌan.hɪˈdəʊ.nɪə/.
Why “anhedonia” is a great word
The inability to feel pleasure from activities usually found enjoyable. From French anhédonie, coined in 1896 by psychologist Theodule Ribot, from Ancient Greek ἀν- (an-, "without") + ἡδονή (hēdonḗ, "pleasure"). Unlike "apathy," which is a general dulling of emotional engagement, or "dysphoria," which carries the sharp sting of active distress, anhedonia is a hollowing—an absence where warmth should flicker. It is the taste of a favorite meal reduced to ash, the laugh that lands like a stone, the sunset seen through thick, soundproof glass; not pain, but the quiet amputation of feeling from the very mechanisms of feeling.
Etymology
From French anhédonie (coined by Ribot, 1896), from Ancient Greek ἀν- (an-) + ἡδονή (hēdonḗ, “pleasure”).
noun
- The inability to feel pleasure from activities usually found enjoyable, such as exercise, hobbies, music, sexual activities or social interactions.e.g.“Prolonged seasickness will in most persons produce a temporary condition of anhedonia. Every good, terrestrial or celestial, is imagined only to be turned from with disgust.” — 1902, William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature […] , New York, N.Y.; London: Longmans, Green, and Co. […], →OCLC, page 146:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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