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''anhedonia'' ▫ᴱᴺ｜Definition｜1st｜20260125123911-00-⌔

anhedonia - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

Noun

anhedonia (usually uncountable, plural anhedonias)

  • (medicine, psychiatry) The inability to feel pleasure from activities usually found enjoyable, such as exercise, hobbies, music, sexual activities or social interactions.
    • ✤ Prolonged seasickness will in most persons produce a temporary condition of anhedonia. Every good, terrestrial or celestial, is imagined only to be turned from with disgust.1
    • ✤ Rather, Meehl suggests that anhedonia is a manifestation of the mixed signals to which the preschizophrenic individual is subjected because of the neurointegrative deficit.2
    • ✤ Secondly, the distinction between consummatory and anticipatory anhedonia [21] is not taken into account although these two anhedonias could play different role in the risk of suicide.3
    • ✤ * Anhedonia is the reduced ability to experience pleasure from activities that were previously found to be enjoyable. Anhedonia can induce diminished motivation to engage in a potentially pleasurable activity (anticipatory anhedonia) and loss of the enjoyment experienced from the action itself (consummatory anhedonia).*4

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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

Printed 2026-06-28.

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Footnotes

  1. 1902, William James, *The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature […] *, New York, N.Y.; London: Longmans, Green, and Co. […], →OCLC, page 146: ↩

  2. 2012, R. R. J. Lewine, “Anhedonia and the Amotivational State of Schizophrenia”, in Andreas Marneros, Nancy C. Andreasen, Ming T. Tsuang, editors, Negative Versus Positive Schizophrenia, Springer, page 82: ↩

  3. 2014, Gwenolé Loas, 11: Anhedonia and Risk of Suicide: An Overview, Michael S. Ritsner (editor), * Anhedonia: A Comprehensive Handbook, Volume II*, Springer, page 251: ↩

  4. 2020, Erin Trifilio, John B. Williamson, Kenneth M. Heilman, “Chapter 9: Changes in Emotions and Mood with Aging”, in Kenneth M. Heilman, Stephen E. Nadeau, editors, Cognitive Changes of the Aging Brain, Cambridge University Press, page 133: ↩

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