abulia

American  

[uh-byoo-lee-uh, uh-boo-] / əˈbyu li ə, əˈbu- /

noun

Psychiatry.

1. a symptom of mental disorder involving impairment or loss of volition.

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abulia British  

/ əˈbuːlɪə, -ˈbjuː- /

noun

1. psychiatry a pathological inability to take decisions

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Other Word Forms

• abulic adjective

Etymology

Origin of abulia

1840–50; < New Latin, probably not < Greek aboulíā thoughtlessness, but freshly formed from a- ⁶, Greek boulḗ will, -ia

Example Sentences

When a subject is thrown into a trance, I may expect the hypnotic phenomena known to me: lethargy, abulia, anæsthesia, analgesia, catalepsy, and every kind of 198susceptibility to suggestion.

From Fruits of Culture by Maude, Aylmer

In its normal and complete form will culminates in an act; but with wavering characters and sufferers from abulia deliberation never ends, or the resolution remains inert, incapable of realization, of asserting itself in practice.

From Essay on the Creative Imagination by Baron, Albert Heyem Nachmen

We felt much inclined at first to denominate him a case of abulia, but his stubbornness in recalcitrancy led us to change our opinion.

From Pathology of Lying, accusation, and swindling: a study in forensic psychology by Healy, William

Imagination, and abulia, 11; and foresight, 284; anthropocentric, 10; basis of the cosmic process, 75; Commercial, 281; complete in animals, 95; condensed in common objects, 276; Conditions of, 44; Development of, 167 ff.;

From Essay on the Creative Imagination by Baron, Albert Heyem Nachmen

To shun competition and responsibility is characteristic of abulia.

From Psychology A Study Of Mental Life by Woodworth, Robert S.