malaise
/məˈleɪz/noun
malaise is spelled M-A-L-A-I-S-E: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 35,320th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, malaise means “A feeling of general bodily discomfort, fatigue or unpleasantness, often at the onset of illness” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of malaise is malaises.
How many letters and syllables are in malaise?
| Letters | 7: M-A-L-A-I-S-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 35,320th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is malaise?
Malaise appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 35,320th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce malaise?
- UK /məˈleɪz/
- UK /mæˈleɪz/
- US /məˈleɪz/
Malaise has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-malaise.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with malaise?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as malaise from its last stressed vowel (/eɪz/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of malaise
- malaises plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does malaise mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A feeling of general bodily discomfort, fatigue or unpleasantness, often at the onset of illness.
- 2
An ambiguous feeling of mental or moral depression.
- 3
Ill will or hurtful feelings for others or someone.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Malaise in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense bodily feeling:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | malaise |
| German | Unbehagen, Unwohlsein |
| Portuguese | mal-estar |
| Spanish | malestar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does malaise come from?
From French malaise (“ill ease”), from mal- (“bad, badly”) + aise (“ease”). Compare ill at ease.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).