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Wistfulness vs Ennui - What's the difference?

wistfulness | ennui |

As nouns the difference between wistfulness and ennui

is that wistfulness is the state or characteristic of being wistful while ennui is a gripping listlessness or melancholia caused by boredom; depression.

wistfulness

English

Noun

(-)
  • The state or characteristic of being wistful.
  • *{{quote-news
    • , year=2012 , date=May 27 , author=Nathan Rabin , title=TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “New Kid On The Block” (season 4, episode 8; originally aired 11/12/1992) , work=The Onion AV Club citation , page= , passage=It’s a lovely sequence cut too short because the show seems afraid to give itself over to romance and whimsy and wistfulness when it has wedgie jokes to deliver. }}

    ennui

    English

    Noun

    (-)
  • A gripping listlessness or melancholia caused by boredom; depression.

    • Synonyms

    * (l) * (l) * (l)

    Quotations

    * (English Citations of "ennui")