languish
verb
lan·guish
ˈlaŋ-gwish 
languished; languishing; languishes
1
a
: to be or become feeble, weak, or enervated
Plants languish in the drought.
b
: to be or live in a state of depression or decreasing vitality
languished in prison for ten years
2
a
: to become dispirited
b
: to suffer neglect
the bill languished in the Senate for eight months
3
: to assume an expression of grief or emotion appealing for sympathy
languished at him through screwed-up eyes—
Edith Wharton
Edith WhartonSynonyms
Examples of languish in a Sentence
older people, especially, were languishing during the prolonged heat wave
Recent Examples on the Web
Without the incentives from the fee waivers, towers such as Bo Town will languish, Dillabough warned.
—George Avalos, The Mercury News, 19 June 2024
Its universities languish in world rankings well below those of the U.S. — only a handful of British research hubs such as Imperial College, London, are around the top.
—Max Hastings, Twin Cities, 12 June 2024
American stocks have been on a blistering run since the global financial crisis, outpacing almost everything in a period when bond returns were suppressed during the zero-rate era while international stocks languished under the weight of a strong dollar.
—Ryan Hogg, Fortune, 10 June 2024
As Macedonia’s stability hangs by a thread, Republican senators in the U.S…
Backing the Balkans
There can be no better signal of Europe’s commitment to the European project than expanding it to the Balkans, a project that has languished of late.
—Ognen Vangelov, Foreign Affairs, 10 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for languish 
George Avalos, The Mercury News, 19 June 2024
Its universities languish in world rankings well below those of the U.S. — only a handful of British research hubs such as Imperial College, London, are around the top.
—Max Hastings, Twin Cities, 12 June 2024
American stocks have been on a blistering run since the global financial crisis, outpacing almost everything in a period when bond returns were suppressed during the zero-rate era while international stocks languished under the weight of a strong dollar.
—Ryan Hogg, Fortune, 10 June 2024
As Macedonia’s stability hangs by a thread, Republican senators in the U.S…
Backing the Balkans
There can be no better signal of Europe’s commitment to the European project than expanding it to the Balkans, a project that has languished of late.
—Ognen Vangelov, Foreign Affairs, 10 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for languish
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'languish.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Languish.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/languish. Accessed 30 Jun. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
languish
verb
lan·guish
ˈlaŋ-gwish
1
: to become weak or languid : waste away
languish in prison
2
: to suffer neglect
a bill languishing in the Senate
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