as in boredom
physical or mental inertness
faced with a class forever enveloped in a miasma of apathy and intellectual hebetude, the professor had little hope of kindling an interest in medieval European history
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Recent Examples of hebetude
The leaden weight of an irremediable idleness descended upon General Feraud, who having no resources within himself sank into a state of awe-inspiring hebetude.
—
Ruth Walker, The Christian Science Monitor, 7 Sep. 2017
Ruth Walker, The Christian Science Monitor, 7 Sep. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hebetude
Noun
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For the students, the evacuations at first carry an air of palpable panic, even a perverse frisson of adventure, though with frequent repetition, mortal danger gets blunted into exasperated boredom.—
Guy Lodge,
Variety,
20 Feb. 2025
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Nowhere is our discomfort with discomfort more evident than in our inability to tolerate boredom.—
Dale Whelehan,
TIME,
14 Feb. 2025
Noun
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The government has also been instrumental in supporting growth in recent months, through a spate of stimulus steps undertaken to revive the lethargy of an economy internally weighed down by lackluster domestic consumption and an extensive real estate slump.—
Anniek Bao,Ruxandra Iordache,
CNBC,
17 Feb. 2025
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On the other hand, pets with salmonella infections may exhibit lethargy or have symptoms such as diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, fever, and vomiting.—
Saman Shafiq,
USA TODAY,
4 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Slim, chiselled Tom wakes from his stupor, newly determined to prove his haters wrong.—
Vinson Cunningham,
The New Yorker,
25 Jan. 2025
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Symptoms of severe illness include high fever, severe headache, neck stiffness, disorientation, stupor, tremors, seizures, paralysis, or coma.—
Marley Malenfant,
Austin American-Statesman,
4 Sep. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Hebetude.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hebetude. Accessed 3 Mar. 2025.
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