anhedonia

English

WOTD – 18 July 2008

Etymology

From French anhédonie (coined by Ribot, 1896), from Ancient Greek ἀν- (an-) + ἡδονή (hēdonḗ, “pleasure”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌan.hɪˈdəʊ.nɪə/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌæn.hiˈdoʊ.ni.ə/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

anhedonia (usually uncountable, plural anhedonias)

1. (medicine, psychiatry) The inability to feel pleasure from activities usually found enjoyable, such as exercise, hobbies, music, sexual activities or social interactions.
   • 1902, William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience, Folio Society 2008, p. 123:

     Sometimes it is mere passive joylessness and dreariness, discouragement, dejection, lack of taste and zest and spring. Professor Ribot has proposed the name anhedonia to designate this condition.

Derived terms

• anhedonic
• anhedonism

Translations

inability to feel pleasure

• Czech: anhedonie f
• Dutch: anhedonie (nl)
• French: anhédonie (fr) f
• Greek: ανηδονία (el) f (anidonía)
• Italian: anedonia (it) f
• Polish: anhedonia (pl) f

• Portuguese: anedonia f
• Russian: ангедония (ru) f (angedonija)
• Spanish: anhedonia (es) f
• Swedish: anhedoni (sv) c

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Finnish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑnhedoniɑ/, [ˈɑnhe̞do̞niɑ]
• Hyphenation: an‧he‧do‧ni‧a

Noun

anhedonia

1. (medicine, psychiatry) anhedonia

Declension

Inflection of anhedonia (Kotus type 12/kulkija, no gradation)
nominative		anhedonia	anhedoniat
genitive		anhedonian	anhedonioiden anhedonioitten
partitive		anhedoniaa	anhedonioita
illative		anhedoniaan	anhedonioihin
		singular	plural
nominative		anhedonia	anhedoniat
accusative	nom.	anhedonia	anhedoniat
	gen.	anhedonian
genitive		anhedonian	anhedonioiden anhedonioitten anhedoniainrare
partitive		anhedoniaa	anhedonioita
inessive		anhedoniassa	anhedonioissa
elative		anhedoniasta	anhedonioista
illative		anhedoniaan	anhedonioihin
adessive		anhedonialla	anhedonioilla
ablative		anhedonialta	anhedonioilta
allative		anhedonialle	anhedonioille
essive		anhedoniana	anhedonioina
translative		anhedoniaksi	anhedonioiksi
instructive		—	anhedonioin
abessive		anhedoniatta	anhedonioitta
comitative		—	anhedonioineen

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Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /an.xɛˈdɔ.ɲa/

• audio

  (file)

Noun

anhedonia f

1. (medicine, psychiatry) anhedonia

Declension

declension of anhedonia

	singular
nominative	anhedonia
genitive	anhedonii
dative	anhedonii
accusative	anhedonię
instrumental	anhedonią
locative	anhedonii
vocative	anhedonio

Further reading

• anhedonia in Polish dictionaries at PWN

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Spanish

Etymology

From French anhédonie.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aneˈdonja/, [ãneˈðonja]

Noun

anhedonia f (plural anhedonias)

1. (medicine, psychiatry) anhedonia (inability to feel pleasure)

Further reading

• “anhedonia” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.