burnout

noun burn·out \ ˈbərn-ˌau̇t \

Updated on: 18 Apr 2018

1 : the cessation of operation usually of a jet or rocket engine; also : the point at which burnout occurs

2 a : exhaustion of physical or emotional strength or motivation usually as a result of prolonged stress or frustration

b : a person suffering from burnout

3 : a person showing the effects of drug abuse

See burnout defined for English-language learners

See burnout defined for kids

Examples of burnout in a Sentence

Teaching can be very stressful, and many teachers eventually suffer burnout.
the burnout rate among teachers
a novel about academic burnouts

Recent Examples of burnout from the Web

The article concluded that women were deciding to marry younger because of abject fear of spinsterhood and career burnout.

— aimee levitt, Chicago Reader, "Archive Dive / Gender Issues / Media / News The time Reader writer Kiki Yablon dismantled the logic of the Wall Street Journal," 10 Apr. 2018
The dual pressures of stressful jobs and looking after their son, Hugo, then 1, had pushed them close to burnout.

— NBC News, "An American dad in Sweden now has plenty of family time," 4 Apr. 2018
Caring for a child with special needs is a stressful, full time job that can cause burnout and even mental and physical health problems for those trying to do it all.

— damar services, Indianapolis Star, "Story from Damar Services: 5 simple things you can do today to support people who have autism," 2 Apr. 2018
For her, travel burnout became a very real scenario, born out of nearly 100 flights and visits to countless countries in 2017, like Kyrgyzstan and Spain.

— meredith carey, Condé Nast Traveler, "What It's Really Like to Turn Travel Into a Full-Time Job," 2 Apr. 2018
Similar to workplace burnout, this parental version includes symptoms such as extreme exhaustion, a decrease in productivity and withholding emotions.

— katie parsons, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Moms get creative to carve out time to exercise," 21 Mar. 2018
All of the residents were working a total of 80 hours a week, though, and levels of burnout, which is increasingly recognized as a problem throughout medicine, were high regardless of shift duration.

— stacey burling, Philly.com, "Medical residents like shorter shifts. Their supervisors don't.," 20 Mar. 2018
Today, Djokovic should take comfort knowing that one man on the planet singularly experienced in returning from tennis burnout is on the payroll.

— jon wertheim, SI.com, "Mailbag: What's Causing Novak Djokovic's Downturn and When Will He Return to Form?," 28 Mar. 2018
The computer power needed to create a bitcoin requires as much electricity as the average American household uses in two years, but the only burnout from sweatcoin was the correspondent’s good will.

— naomi fry, The New Yorker, "Do You Take Sweatcoin?," 24 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'burnout.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of burnout

1940

burnout Synonyms

burn out

verb

transitive verb

1 : to drive out or destroy the property of by fire

2 : to cause to fail, wear out, or become exhausted especially from overwork or overuse

intransitive verb

: to suffer burnout

See burn out defined for kids

Examples of burn out in a Sentence

working 12-hour days at that job just burned me out

Recent Examples of burn out from the Web

Mingle with other film buffs, talk about movies, but try not to get burnt out too quickly.

— trevor fraser, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Florida Film Festival: April 6," 6 Apr. 2018
In addition, at just 25, I am burned out with my own career and desperately want to do something different.

— amy dickinson, chicagotribune.com, "Husband controls the radio, wife wants a different tune," 1 Apr. 2018
Many residents are burned out on drought messaging.

— debbie arrington, sacbee, "Feeling drought fatigue? How to get back to saving water and money | The Sacramento Bee," 31 Mar. 2018
Though some actors may feel burned out after dedicating more than a decade of their lives to one character, Cuoco recently told E!

— refinery29.com, "The Big Bang Theory," 26 Mar. 2018
Many attendees spoke of grueling working hours, little to no job stability, lack of overtime compensation, burn out and aggressive employee churn, and various other physical and emotional tolls of modern game development.

— nick statt, The Verge, "Game developers look to unions to fix the industry’s exploitative workplace culture," 23 Mar. 2018
And yet today, 50 percent of clinicians are burned out in the midst of an industry-wide provider shortage, just as consumers are insisting on better value for their healthcare dollar.

— debbie ritchie, for studer group, USA TODAY, "Engagement is the Holy Grail of transforming healthcare," 30 Mar. 2018
Dunn is a former Crawford High School English teacher who, feeling burnt out after 10 years, spent three summers in Paris training to be a pastry chef at the famed Le Cordon Bleu.

— michele parente, sandiegouniontribune.com, "New Parisian-style pastry shop in Hillcrest a shimmering gem," 22 Mar. 2018
Sun and motley of colors, because everything is flat, literal, loud, and burnt out.

— andrew liptak, The Verge, "Jakub Rozalski’s Howling at the Moon is a beautiful art book that merges real and fictional worlds," 17 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'burn out.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of burn out

1710

burn out Synonyms

Synonyms

break, bust, do in, do up, drain, exhaust, fatigue, frazzle, harass, kill, knock out, outwear, tire, tucker (out), wash out, wear, wear out, weary;

Near Antonyms

activate, energize, invigorate, rejuvenate, strengthen, vitalize;

relax, rest, unwind;

Phrases

wear to a frazzle;

BURNOUT Defined for English Language Learners

burnout

noun

: the condition of someone who has become very physically and emotionally tired after doing a difficult job for a long time
: a person who suffers burnout
: the time when a jet or rocket engine stops working because there is no more fuel available