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
Pete Tosiello, Pitchfork, 27 Jan. 2026
The New York Times reported that much of Masako’s malaise stemmed from public pressures to conceive a male heir.
—Marta Martínez Tato, Vanity Fair, 23 Jan. 2026
While many will be familiar with the broad sweeps — the humble beginnings, the tragedy of Munich, the European redemption, the sustained glory of the Ferguson years, the modern malaise — there is plenty of scope for decent storytelling here.
—Jack Lang, New York Times, 22 Jan. 2026
The book does feature suburban family malaise, and a masked party where the vibes are off, but its frenetic pace and undisguised artifice are more reminiscent of madcap detective fiction.
—Hannah Gold, New Yorker, 21 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 3 Feb. 2026.
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