Word of the Day

Sunday, April 13, 2008

abulia

\uh-BOO-lee-uh; uh-BYOO-\ , noun;

Loss or impairment of the ability to act or to make decisions.

Quotes:

I was suffering from an aboulia, you know. I couldn't seem to make decisions.

-- Anatole Broyard, "Reading and Writing; (Enter Pound and Eliot)", New York Times, May 30, 1982

There's little escape from her black hole of abulia.

-- James Saynor, "Woman in the Midst of a Nervous Breakdown", New York Times, June 12, 1994

Origin:

Abulia derives from Greek a-, "without" + boule, "will." The adjective form is abulic.