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Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective languid differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of languid are lackadaisical, languorous, listless, and spiritless. While all these words mean "lacking energy or enthusiasm," languid refers to an unwillingness or inability to exert oneself due to fatigue or physical weakness.

was depressed and languid for weeks after surgery

When could lackadaisical be used to replace languid?

The synonyms lackadaisical and languid are sometimes interchangeable, but lackadaisical implies a carefree indifference marked by half-hearted efforts.

lackadaisical college seniors pretending to study

When is it sensible to use languorous instead of languid?

While the synonyms languorous and languid are close in meaning, languorous suggests a dreamy boredom and delicacy that avoids unnecessary activity.

languorous cats lying in the sun

When is listless a more appropriate choice than languid?

The words listless and languid are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, listless suggests a lack of interest caused by physical weakness or dissatisfied boredom.

listless hospital patients
listless children flipping through picture books on a rainy day

In what contexts can spiritless take the place of languid?

Although the words spiritless and languid have much in common, spiritless refers to a lack of animation or vigor that gives one's actions and words life.

a spiritless recital of the poem

Examples Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of languid Denning sang the demo that day and played a languid guitar solo, emulating Vince Gill’s melodic style. Tom Roland, Billboard, 30 Oct. 2024 The pace is languid, but the tension builds rapidly, aided by Louise’s increasing desperation and a pack of angry dogs. Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 17 Sep. 2024 There exists a long history of the dying muse, beautiful, feverish, and doomed: In 1852, the artist’s model Elizabeth Siddal posed as Hamlet’s Ophelia for the pre-Raphaelites, her languid sickliness attributed to tuberculosis by her peers. Rhian Sasseen, The Atlantic, 14 Oct. 2024 Just eating, reading, resting and enjoying these surroundings in such a languid fashion is hard to beat. Delilah Khomo, theweek, 3 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for languid 
Recent Examples of Synonyms for languid
Adjective
  • That’s why a noirish tenor sax snakes through the suite’s middle (played with languorous sensuality by PRISM Quartet’s Timothy McAllister), set to a lyre-like harp accompaniment.
    Hannah Edgar, Chicago Tribune, 9 Nov. 2024
  • The rhymed verse the characters speak in doesn’t at all hinder them from expressing themselves colloquially, in idioms that sound better with a languorous Southern lilt.
    Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 19 July 2024
Adjective
  • Capasa noted that a negative third quarter impacted by weak internal demand, the slowdown of purchases from Chinese customers and overall geopolitical instability kept worsening the cautious scenario already registered in the first half of the year.
    Sandra Salibian, WWD, 11 Dec. 2024
  • Scene-to-scene continuity is typically weak and telling.
    Lance Eliot, Forbes, 11 Dec. 2024
Adjective
  • The film eschews traditional dramatic structures, unfolding episodically at a leisurely pace while Karoline struggles to keep her life from completely derailing.
    Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 5 Dec. 2024
  • Wild at Tart, is the place for a leisurely lunch with a variety of sharing plates focussed on a sustainable and seasonal approach.
    Michele Robson, Forbes, 2 Dec. 2024
Adjective
  • By the time the prosecution presented another version of the Vasquez video, broken into fourteen hundred and sixty-five frames, on PowerPoint slides, which show Penny and Neely’s struggle even more clearly, the jurors had begun to resemble listless schoolchildren.
    Adam Iscoe, The New Yorker, 9 Dec. 2024
  • Looking listless from the opening, the Sharks allowed five goals in the first period and never recovered in an unsightly 8-1 loss to the Lightning at Amalie Arena.
    Curtis Pashelka, The Mercury News, 5 Dec. 2024
Adjective
  • The antihero actioner earned a feeble $4.7 million across Friday and preview screenings from 3,211 locations.
    J. Kim Murphy, Variety, 14 Dec. 2024
  • What a degrading finale for Biden’s feeble, forgettable, frequently foolish presidency.
    Bret Stephens, The Mercury News, 3 Dec. 2024
Adjective
  • That will be a welcome change from an unusually slow offseason so far, but there’s no chance Sasaki will sign with his new team this week.
    Daniel R. Epstein, Forbes, 7 Dec. 2024
  • No one knows for sure why the rally happens but some experts attribute it to such seasonal things as holiday shopping and investors wrapping up their books before the end of the year, ahead of a slower January.
    Benzinga, Detroit Free Press, 7 Dec. 2024
Adjective
  • The same tired thoughts, predictable excuses, and familiar limiting beliefs play on repeat in your mind, keeping you stuck in patterns that don't serve your growth.
    Jodie Cook, Forbes, 8 Dec. 2024
  • By the time Odysseus washes ashore, battered and weakened, even her son, Telemachus (Charlie Plummer), has grown tired of her indecision, hoping to move on from the limbo of waiting.
    Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times, 6 Dec. 2024
Adjective
  • Ryan Williams was lackadaisical, and Milroe threw it right in the view of the defense.
    Kennington Smith III, The Athletic, 25 Nov. 2024
  • There seemed to be a lackadaisical effort, which allowed for the Oklahoma defender to catch the pass unaffected.
    Kennington Smith III, The Athletic, 24 Nov. 2024

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Cite this Entry

“Languid.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/languid. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.

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