lethargic
adjective
Did you know?
In Greek mythology, Lethe was the name of a river in the underworld that was also called "the River of Unmindfulness" or "the River of Forgetfulness." Legend held that when someone died, they were given a drink of water from the river Lethe to forget all about their past life. Eventually this act of forgetting came to be associated with feelings of sluggishness, inactivity, or indifference. The name of the river and the word lethargic, as well as the related noun lethargy, all come from lēthē, Greek for "forgetfulness."
Synonyms
Examples of lethargic in a Sentence
Lenny Rudow, Boating, December 1997
… became a drifter and for a time an alcoholic and finally lapsed into lethargic self-abasement.
—Stanley Karnow, New York Times Book Review, 14 Oct. 1984
The audience was cold and lethargic. It is true there were about fifty-seven applauses, but they were not roars of enthusiasm by any means.
—Lady Bird Johnson 12 Jan. 1966,
in A White House Diary, 1970
The patient is weak and lethargic.
a big meal always makes me feel lethargic and sleepy
Alex Perry, The Enquirer, 28 Nov. 2024
After a lethargic opening episode, this one doesn’t inspire a ton of hope for the final four.
—Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 18 Nov. 2024
Queen’s performance overshadowed a lethargic start by Maryland, which owned just a 3-point lead at halftime and looked rusty from the floor in the first half.
—Baltimore Sun Staff, Baltimore Sun, 4 Nov. 2024
On that note, gone is the lethargic 2.0-liter Boxer flat-4.
—Michael Harley, Forbes, 22 Oct. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Lethargic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lethargic. Accessed 3 Dec. 2024.
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