The article explores the meanings of ennui in eighteenth-century England. Based on text
searches, it proposes that the French term ennui was adopted into everyday usage in England
around the mid-century, and was from the 1770s onwards used to signify especially the
temporal aspects of the word, that is, boredom. Ennui was closely tied to social rank: it was
thought to plague the wealthy if they had too much time on their hands. Interestingly, ennui
was not particularly gendered, but plagued both men and women. It was intrinsically related
to lifestyles. A multitude of activities were proposed to avoid ennui, from reading to physical
exercise. Avoidance was a question of life and death: ennui could lead to moral collapse and
ultimately to suicide, killing not only the body but also the soul.