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languid

UK/ˈlæŋɡwɪd/US/ˈlæŋɡwɪd/
adjectiveC1Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #12,890 of 15,258neutral

Languid means slow and lacking any energy. A languid afternoon, a languid gesture, languid and warm.

It is admiring as often as not, since a languid manner suggests unhurried ease rather than illness. Of weather and of afternoons it is nearly a compliment, and the Latin behind it means faint or weak.

Definitions of languid

  1. 1adjectivelanguidSlow and lacking any energy.C1

    “The cat gave a languid stretch in the sun and went back to sleep.”

languid is a quality.

Where it comes from

Latin languidus means faint or weak, from languere, to be faint.

  1. Proto-Indo-European

    *(s)leg-

  2. Latin

    languidus

  3. Middle French

    languide

  4. English, today

    languid

Built from

  • langueō · Latin — to be faint or weak; (figuratively) to be idle, inactive, or listless
  • *(s)leh₁g- · Proto-Indo-European — to weaken

Borrowed from Middle French languide, from Latin languidus. 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. See also the related languish. 2

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

languid in the wild

  • The music of Paraguay, which consists of lilting polkas, bouncy galopas, and languid guaranias is played on the native harp.

    Culture of Paraguay

  • And 'Street Flash' is nearly seven minutes of spaced out hollers, electronics and lullabies that sounds like it's made of honey. 'Cobwebs' is equally languid.

    Water Curses

  • In the latter portion of his life he became more languid in his coloring and execution.

    Sigismondo Caula

  • Since then, Rolling Stone declared Rountree as: "hype of the underground with praise to the skies.." Describing Rountree's voice as: "hovering vocals...Listless and languid phrasing".

    Tucker Rountree

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the langueō family

languidlanguor

languid — used about once every 16,706 pages · #12,890 · point at the bar for the others