Malcolm Boyd
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A recipe: combine a handful of the blahs, a pinch of the blues, and maybe a soupçon of ennui, season generously with “under the weather,” and voila, you’ve got yourself the stew of sinking sensations known as malaise. Malaise, whose Old French ancestor was formed from the combination of mal (“bad”) and aise (“comfort”), has been a part of English since the mid-18th century. It originally referred to a vague feeling of weakness or discomfort accompanying the onset of an illness—a meaning still in use today when a virus or other malady starts producing symptoms—but has since broadened to cover a general, ominous sense of mental or moral ill-being.
Examples of malaise in a Sentence
Hannah Gold, New Yorker, 21 Jan. 2026
Then-President Jimmy Carter, who appointed Volcker, lost his 1980 reelection bid amidst the economic malaise.
—Howard Schneider, USA Today, 19 Jan. 2026
Here are two clubs with huge histories and a modern malaise; two clubs with unhappy fans, owner issues, governance questions, unpopular managers, recruitment failings; two clubs who appear to have lost their ‘Way’.
—Michael Walker, New York Times, 15 Jan. 2026
Steve Sanders was probably in more danger fighting mid-20s malaise in the Beverly Hills, 90210 finale than Steve Harrington was fighting Vecna in the Stranger Things capper.
—Josh Glicksman, Billboard, 13 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for malaise
Cite this Entry
“Malaise.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/malaise. Accessed 23 Jan. 2026.
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