Burnout
Noun · Hacker Culture · Origin: 1974
Definitions
A state of chronic physical and emotional exhaustion caused by prolonged work stress, characterized by cynicism, detachment, and reduced effectiveness. Rampant in tech due to always-on culture, on-call rotations, and the lie that passion should replace rest.
In plain English: Complete physical and emotional exhaustion from overwork — when you've pushed so hard for so long that you can't push anymore and stop caring.
Clinically recognized by the WHO as an occupational phenomenon (ICD-11), burnout has three dimensions: exhaustion, cynicism/depersonalization, and reduced professional efficacy. It's not just being tired — it's the absence of caring about work you used to care about.
Example: 'The warning signs were there — I stopped reviewing PRs carefully, dreaded every standup, and hadn't felt proud of any work in months. That's burnout, not laziness.'
Source: clinical / WHO definition
Related Terms
- Rage Quit
- Impostor Syndrome
- Toil
- SRE
- On-Call
- Imposter
- Rubber Duck Test
- Crunchtime
- Open Floor Plan
- Rubber Duck Conference
- Dunning-Kruger effect
- Booting Up
- Matrix Movie
- Underground
- Golden Handcuffs
- Meeting Tax
- Rage Quit Tech
- Meritocracy Myth
- Performance Improvement Plan
- Quiet Quitting Tech
- Slack Overflow
- Bring Your Own Device