Anhedonia
/ˌæn.hiːˈdoʊ.ni.ə/noun
A reduced ability or inability to feel pleasure from normally enjoyable activities.
Did you know?Anhedonia was coined in modern psychiatry from Greek roots, and its brutal literal sense—“without pleasure”—shows how medical language can turn inner suffering into a precise, almost spell-like name.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Greek
Greek
an- + hēdonē
“"not" + "pleasure"”
Late 19th Century
French
anhédonie
“a lack of pleasure or capacity for enjoyment in pathology”
Late 19th Century
English
anhedonia
“a psychiatric term for inability to feel pleasure”
Modern English
English
anhedonia
“a diminished or absent capacity for pleasure”
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