Meaning of malaise

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
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What does “malaise” mean? Does it mean that I don’t feel well but do not know what the cause is?

How do I make a sentence with the word?

Thanks.

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Here is an example:

Several days before her heart attack, Mary kept talking about how she was experiencing malaise and not feeling like her normal self.

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I hope you have understood the meaning of malaise from the apt example provided by Torsten. However, first, you should also look for the meanings of such words online or consulting a dictionary. The meaning, according to Cambridge online dictionary is "a general feeling of being ill or having no energy, or an uncomfortable feeling that something is wrong …"

Oxford defines malaise as a feeling of bodily discomfort, but without clear signs of a particular illness.

The word is synonymous with uneasiness, restlessness etc.

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Hi Lawrence, thanks a lot for your additional explanation. I’d like to add that malaise is a French word which has been borrowed by many other European languages such as English and German. For example, in German we have the verb ‘vermaledeien’ which means to damn or curse and ‘vermaledeit’ which is the past participle of vermaledeien. Vermaledeien derived from the French word ‘malaise’.

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Thank you.
By the way, Torsten, do we actually sound ‘se’? I heard someone pronounce it malai(se) but phonetic representation depicts the whole word articulated almost as it is (/maˈleɪz/).

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I think in French ‘se’ is not pronounced while in English it is.

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Thank you. I raised that question because it’s a French word as you also said. Thanks again.

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