neurasthenia

noun

neur·​as·​the·​nia ˌnu̇r-əs-ˈthē-nē-ə How to pronounce neurasthenia (audio)
ˌnyu̇r-
: a condition that is characterized especially by physical and mental exhaustion usually with accompanying symptoms (such as headache and irritability), is of unknown cause but is often associated with depression or emotional stress, and is sometimes considered similar to or identical with chronic fatigue syndrome
neurasthenic
ˌnu̇r-əs-ˈthe-nik How to pronounce neurasthenia (audio)
-ˈthē-
ˌnyu̇r-
adjective or noun
neurasthenically adverb

Examples of neurasthenia in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Indeed, Greeley seemed to be a classic, if unusually tragic, case of what doctors of the day referred to as neurasthenia—a sort of catchall diagnosis encompassing anxiety, depression, insomnia, loss of appetite, physical exhaustion and other symptoms typically attributed to overwork. Greg Daugherty, Smithsonian Magazine, 19 Sep. 2024 But neurasthenia alone wouldn’t account for Greeley’s death. Greg Daugherty, Smithsonian Magazine, 19 Sep. 2024 Mitchell believed that many of his patients suffered from neurasthenia, a something’s-not-quite-right diagnosis that encompassed such symptoms as weakness, lethargy, insomnia, anxiety, depression, and headaches. Dhruv Khullar, The New Yorker, 18 Oct. 2023 Peabody’s muscular Christianity reflected elite anxieties at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries around a loss of manliness and a spreading neurasthenia compared with the rougher pre-industrial times. Doug Henwood, Harper's magazine, 28 Oct. 2019 The fashionable malaise of neurasthenia was only one of the disorders thought to be caused by a depletion of energies. Aaron Gilbreath, Longreads, 6 July 2018 Then neurasthenia was a fashionable disease, and a lot of writers and artists embraced it with a passion. National Geographic, 19 Aug. 2016 During the second half of the 19th century, neurologists described a condition called neurasthenia, thought to have been brought on by the accelerating pace of modern life. Nitsuh Abebe, New York Times, 18 Apr. 2017 Nineteenth century neurasthenia theories read very similarly. National Geographic, 19 Aug. 2016

Word History

Etymology

neur- + asthenia, probably after Italian neurastenia

Note: Italian neurastenia (now nevrastenia) appears to have been introduced, in reference to what was taken to be a form of tetanus (tetano nervoso or tetano astenico "nervous" or "asthenic tetanus"), by the Pavia physician Giuseppe Bergamaschi in "Osservazioni medico-pratiche sul tetano," Giornale di medicina pratica, edited by Valeriano Luigi Brera, fascicolo 29 (settembre-ottobre 1816). Bergamaschi's neurastenia is cited as "neurostenia" in John Mason Good's The Study of Medicine, 2nd edition, vol. 4 (London, 1825), p. 353. The word was reintroduced to refer to a psychological disorder by both the American psychiatrist E.H. Van Deusen ("Observations on a form of nervous prostration, (neurasthenia,) culminating in insanity," American Journal of Insanity, April, 1869, vol. 45, pp. 445-61) and the American neurologist George Miller Beard ("Neurasthenia, or nervous exhaustion," Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, new series vol. 3, no. 13, April 29, 1869, pp. 217-21).

First Known Use

circa 1833, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of neurasthenia was circa 1833

Dictionary Entries Near neurasthenia

Cite this Entry

“Neurasthenia.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/neurasthenia. Accessed 5 Dec. 2024.

Medical Definition

neurasthenia

noun
neur·​as·​the·​nia ˌn(y)u̇r-əs-ˈthē-nē-ə How to pronounce neurasthenia (audio)
: a condition that is characterized especially by physical and mental exhaustion usually with accompanying symptoms (as headaches, insomnia, and irritability), is of unknown cause but is often associated with depression or emotional stress, and is sometimes considered similar to or identical with chronic fatigue syndrome

More from Merriam-Webster on neurasthenia

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!