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Middlemarch vocabulary
551 vocabulary words, including people, places, music, artists, etc.
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ennui
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synonyms: acedia ???
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Definition:boredom
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Uses:
"You'll hardly believe it, my little Chauvelin," she said earnestly, "but I often pass a whole day— a whole day— without encountering a single temptation." "No wonder," retorted Chauvelin, gallantly, "that the cleverest woman in Europe is troubled with ennui." She laughed one of her melodious, rippling, childlike laughs.
Emmuska Orczy. The Scarlet Pimpernel
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The crowd appeared to feel much the same, and as the high excitement of the morning faded into ennui,
Diana Gabaldon. Outlander (1991)
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He was soon aware that there was springing up in his heart a desire for desires—ennui.
Leo Tolstoy. Anna Karenina
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[Footnote: The original has: "j'en creve d'ennuis." The French word ennui, which now only means weariness of mind, signified formerly injury, and the vexation or hatred caused thereby; something like the English word "annoy," as in Shakespeare's Richard III., v. 3: "Sleep, Richmond, sleep in peace, and wake in joy; Good angels guard thee from the boar's annoy."]
Molière. Sganarelle, or, the Self-Deceived Husband
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