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burnout

burnout

19 4.1
A state of extreme tiredness from too much work or stress
  • noun
  • /ˈbɜrnˌaʊt/
translation icon : agotamiento
  • The results showed that social workers with higher initial levels of burnout later reported more physical health complaints.
  • stress and burnout
  • experience burnout
  • job burnout

And when you feel that sense of burnout, you are not thriving.

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Examples

  • There's no reason that we have very high burnout in the medical profession.

  • The signs of burnout include chronic fatigue and reduced motivation to work.

  • You have to avoid burnout at all costs.

  • In other words, higher levels of burnout led to worse physical health.

    Academic text (2011)
  • So yeah, if you guys have burnout tips, let me know.

  • If you are already having symptoms of burnout, that is where you need to focus.

    Academic text (2011)
  • Teachers need to learn appropriate stress relief techniques to combat burnout and to increase professional growth and interest.

    Academic text (2012)
  • Our findings support the need for both burnout prevention and recovery interventions.

    Academic text (2011)
  • I think burnout mostly happens when you don't love what you're doing.

  • The original MBI was developed to measure burnout for people working in human service professions.

    Academic text (2011)

Synonyms

exhaustion
vsburnout
78 3.6

Extreme physical or mental tiredness after hard work

specifies that the severe tiredness is caused by prolonged stress or overwork
weariness
vsburnout
20 3.1

A strong feeling of being very tired in body or mind

is deeper and longer lasting caused by prolonged stress rather than brief exertion
frazzle
vsburnout
  • Informal
1 7.4

A state of being very tired in body or mind

focuses on severe tiredness arising from long stress and repeated overwork
mental fatigue
vsburnout
1 4.4

A feeling of being tired after long thinking or stress

is the broader extreme state that affects both body and mind after overwork
mental exhaustion
vsburnout
1 6.0

A very tired mind after long thinking or a lot of stress

includes extreme tiredness affecting body or mind from prolonged stress or overwork

Antonyms

13 5.4

To make a person or thing seem younger and fresher

1 5.5

A change or feeling that makes something more lively and full of energy

How Exhausted

breakdown
  • Informal
120 3.9
burnout
19 4.1
exhaustion
78 3.6
fatigue
92 4.2
tiredness
10 1.0

Surface Forms

burnout singular
burnouts plural

Morphology

burnout = burn + out (semi-transparent) = burn + out

The exhaustion sense is motivated by the metaphor of being 'burned out,' but the exact meaning is not fully predictable from the component words alone.

Etymology

Burnout comes from the parts burn + out, like a candle that 'has burned out' and has no flame, showing the energy is 'used up'. So burnout means extreme physical or mental tiredness after long stress or too much work.