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
Seniors in our country shouldn’t be languishing in poverty, period.
—Laura Gersony, The Arizona Republic, 6 Sep. 2024
The choice to tell this story as an allegory proves limiting in the film’s second act, which, after an energetic start, languishes.
—Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Sep. 2024
As part of the pact, the streamer and studio will finance and release movies from Stuber’s new production company under United Artists, a languishing label that once operated under the auspice of MGM.
—Brent Lang, Variety, 26 July 2024
As the story goes, test footage of Reynolds as the Merc with a Mouth was mysteriously uploaded onto the internet in 2014 after years of the superhero film languishing in production purgatory.
—EW.com, 26 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for languish 
Laura Gersony, The Arizona Republic, 6 Sep. 2024
The choice to tell this story as an allegory proves limiting in the film’s second act, which, after an energetic start, languishes.
—Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Sep. 2024
As part of the pact, the streamer and studio will finance and release movies from Stuber’s new production company under United Artists, a languishing label that once operated under the auspice of MGM.
—Brent Lang, Variety, 26 July 2024
As the story goes, test footage of Reynolds as the Merc with a Mouth was mysteriously uploaded onto the internet in 2014 after years of the superhero film languishing in production purgatory.
—EW.com, 26 July 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 1 Oct. 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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