That end-of-weekend dread now has an official definition — and data suggests it is getting worse, The Wall Street Journal reported Oct. 11.
In September, Merriam-Webster added “Sunday scaries” to its online dictionary, defining the term as “a feeling of anxiety or sadness one may feel when the weekend is almost over, either because the work/school week is about to begin, there is no more time for fun or relaxing weekend activities, or both.”
According to the Journal, rising workloads and shakier job security may be making the feeling more common. Work messages and chats took up about 12% of Sundays in 2025, nearly double the 6.6% recorded in 2023, according to data that workforce analytics firm ActivTrak compiled for the Journal.
The newspaper also cited an October FlexJobs survey of 2,100 U.S. workers, in which more than half of respondents said they experience the Sunday scaries, and unfinished tasks were the most common trigger.
“It’s only a matter of time before the scaries ruin Saturday too, turning it into a day to dread the dread we’ll feel on Sunday,” the Journal wrote.
Kia-Rai Prewitt, PhD, a psychologist at Cleveland Clinic, told the Journal that guardrails matter, but some Sunday work can be OK if it eases the sense of being overwhelmed on Monday.
“If I can just log in really quick and respond to this email, that’s all I’m going to do,” Dr. Prewitt said. “You have to set the boundary and say, ‘I’m not going to respond to other emails.’”
Healthcare executives have described a similar tension around time off. In 2024, Jandel Allen-Davis, MD, president and CEO of Englewood, Colo.-based Craig Hospital, told Becker’s that fully unplugging is “near impossible” for her, largely because of “the tax you pay when you return,” including a pile of email.
Other leaders have pointed to coverage plans as the fix. Tori Bayless, CEO of Annapolis, Md.-based Luminis Health, also said in 2024 that senior leaders there are expected to designate someone to cover for them while they’re out “so that they don’t feel the need to check in.”
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