Meanings
alternative accedie
- uncountableChristianitySpiritual or mental sloth and the feeling it provokes; apathy or indifference; a lack of care or interest and the resultant avoidance of duties; a bored melancholy leading to desperation, restlessness and anxiety.
Her acedia kept her trapped in a cycle of depression and torpor.
1 more example
Yet I have come to believe that acedia can strike anyone whose work requires self - motivation and solitude
year-2008, Kathleen Norris, Acedia & Me: A Marriage, Monks, and a Writer's Life, Riverhead Books, page 6Synonyms: accidie, ennui, Weltschmerz, listlessness, sluggishness
Synonyms & antonyms
nounSpiritual or mental sloth and the feeling it provokes; apathy or indifference; a lack of care or interest and the resultant avoidance of duties; a bored melancholy leading to desperation, restlessness and anxiety.
More synonyms by meaning
nounapathy and inactivity in the practice of virtue (personified as one of the deadly sins)
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*né
- Proto-Indo-European*n̥-
- Proto-Hellenic*ə-
- Ancient Greekἀ- (a-)
- Proto-Indo-European*ḱeh₂d-
- Proto-Indo-European*ḱeh₂dos
- Proto-Hellenic*kā́dos
- Ancient Greekκῆδος (kêdos)
- Ancient Greekἀκηδής (akēdḗs)
- Ancient Greekἀκηδίᾱ (akēdíā)
- Latinacēdia
- Englishacedia
Borrowed from Latin acēdia, borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀκηδίᾱ (akēdíā), from ἀκηδής (akēdḗs, “careless”) + -ίᾱ (-íā). Doublet of accidie.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian мързел, апатия
- мързел (mărzel)sloth
- апатия (apatija)apathy
- незаинтересованост (nezainteresovanost)apathy
Finnish akedia, akedia
- akediasloth
- akediaapathy
French acédie
- acédiesloth
German Faulheit f oder Trägheit f des Herzens, Geistes
- Faulheit f oder Trägheit f des Herzenssloth
- Geistessloth
- Apathieapathy
- Phlegmaapathy
- Trägheitapathy
- Dumpfheitapathy
- Gleichgültigkeitapathy
- Leidenschaftslosigkeitapathy
- Mattigkeitapathy
- Schlappheitapathy
- Teilnahmslosigkeitapathy
- Unempfindlichkeitapathy
Greek οκνηρία
- οκνηρία (okniría)sloth
Italian accidia, apatia
- accidiasloth
- apatiaapathy
Polish acedia, apatia
- acediasloth
- apatiaapathy
Spanish acedia
- acediasloth
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
acedia. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/acedia
“acedia.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/acedia. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “acedia,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/acedia.
Source: acedia on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.