Both verbs suggest prompting or encouraging a person or group to undertake something or to pursue something, Motivate refers to giving a person or group a reason or a desire to do a thing, or to pursue it with more drive (players motivated by a monetary prize; the teacher who motivated her to go to college). Galvanize refers to stimulating or energizing a person or group into action, particularly by provoking a response. The typical object of galvanize is a large group—the public, voters, the community, a movement—or the collective sentiment, opinion, efforts or actions of a group (a speech that galvanized public opinion).

Both words refer to activities engaged in by businesses or other enterprising organizations to gain public attention, such as advertising campaigns or press junkets. However, there are no ballyhoo departments. Publicity is the official and neutral term. Ballyhoo refers specifically, and usually dismissively, to a noisy style of promotion that is blatant, excessive, or extravagant. It’s commonly paired with “hype” and often appears preceded by “much” or “all the”: the play premiered amid much ballyhoo. In general usage, ballyhoo is sometimes used more loosely to mean media attention and public buzz no matter the source. Inevitably, what receives the ballyhoo doesn’t merit the clamor surrounding it.

There’s nothing more ordinary than boredom, the restless or weary state that comes from not being interested in any pursuit available to you (the boredom of a long commute). Ennui, a borrowing from French, is boredom taken more seriously. Ennui can suggest a more profound, philosophical or spiritual condition rather than lack of interest (existential ennui; suburban ennui; adolescent ennui). Although the expression “die of boredom” is one of the most common contexts for the word, ennui tends to be treated more as an actual illness or malaise: people are said to suffer from ennui and to overcome it. Angst, frustration, despair, and loneliness are some common companions of ennui.