lelah

Lelah is an adjective used in Indonesian and, to a lesser extent, Malay, meaning tired or fatigued. It describes a state of weariness resulting from physical or mental effort, travel, or stress. In everyday language it can refer to a person who feels tired or to tasks and situations that cause fatigue. The related noun is kelelahan, denoting fatigue or exhaustion; related verb forms include melelahkan, which means to tire someone, and melelahkan as a causative sense of tiring.

In Malay, lelah is understood but less common in everyday speech, where letih or penat are typically used for tiredness. In both languages, lelah appears in literature and media to convey fatigue or weariness, and it can combine with nouns to describe a tired body or spirit, such as lelah badan or lelah selepas pekerjaan.

Translations into English range from tired to fatigued or exhausted, depending on intensity and context. The term is frequently used in discussions of work, travel, illness, or long effort, and it can carry nuance from mild weariness to significant exhaustion.

Examples include: Saya lelah setelah seharian bekerja. Ia terlihat lelah setelah perjalanan panjang. In a broader sense, kelelahan can be discussed in health or workplace contexts, as in "kelelahan kronis dapat berdampak pada kinerja."