languid
/ˈlæŋɡwɪd/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 2.54 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Of a person or animal, or their body functions: flagging from weakness, or inactive or weak, especially due to illness or tiredness; faint, listless.
adj
Of a person or their actions, character, etc.: lacking drive, emotion, or enthusiasm; apathetic, listless, spiritless, unenthusiastic.
adj
Of an idea, writing, etc.: dull, uninteresting.
adj
Of a period of time: characterized by lack of activity; pleasant and relaxed; unstressful.
adj
Of a thing: lacking energy, liveliness, or strength; inactive, slow-moving, weak.
Example Sentences
- "[T]he ſalt of vipers is alſo thought to exceed any other animal ſalt vvhatever, in giving vigour to the languid circulation, and prompting to venery."
- "At first she "ran a temperature" in American parlance, and I could not resist the exquisite caloricity of unexpected delights—Venus febriculosa—though it was a very languid Lolita that moaned and coughed and shivered in my embrace."
- "Loth was he to move / From the imprinted couch, and when he did, / 'Twas with slow, languid paces, and face hid / In muffling hands."
- "A consort was found for him in the royal family of France; and her beauty and grace gave him a languid pleasure."
- "Val watched his back, languid and slim, till it was out of sight …"
- "Darkness fell before we reached the Belgian frontier, and on through the night our train took her languid way."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)leg-der. Latin langueō Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-der. Proto-Italic *-iðos Latin -idus Latin languidusder. Middle French languidebor. ▲ Latin languidusbor. English languid Borrowed from Middle French languide (“fatigued, weak; apathetic, indifferent”) (modern French languide), or from its etymon Latin languidus (“faint, weak; dull; slow, sluggish; ill, sick, unwell; (figuratively) inactive, inert, listless”), from langueō (“to be faint or weak; (figuratively) to be idle, inactive, or listless”) (from Proto-Indo-European *(s)leg-, *(s)leh₁g- (“to weaken”)) + -idus (suffix meaning ‘tending to’ forming adjectives). See also the related languish. Cognates * Italian languido (“languid; languishing”) * Portuguese lânguido (“languid; listless”) * Spanish lánguido (“languid, weak”)
Origin
- Source language: Latin