languid
See also: lànguid
English
WOTD – 26 June 2022
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈlæŋɡwɪd/
Audio (Southern England) (file) - (General American) IPA(key): /ˈlæŋɡwəd/
- Hyphenation: lan‧guid
Etymology 1
Borrowed from 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 (suffix meaning ‘tending to’ forming adjectives).[1] Doublet of languish.
cognates
- Italian languido (“languid; languishing”)
- Portuguese lânguido (“languid; listless”)
- Spanish lánguido (“languid, weak”)
Adjective
languid (comparative more languid, superlative most languid)
- Of a person or animal, or their body functions: flagging from weakness, or inactive or weak, especially due to illness or tiredness; faint, listless.
- 1791, Oliver Goldsmith, “Of Venemous Serpents in General”, in An History of the Earth, and Animated Nature. […], volume VII, new edition, London: […] F[rancis] Wingrave, successor to Mr. [John] Nourse, […], OCLC 877622212, page 191:
- [T]he ſalt of vipers is alſo thought to exceed any other animal ſalt vvhatever, in giving vigour to the languid circulation, and prompting to venery.
- 1955, Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita (Crest Giant; D338), Greenwich, Conn.: Fawcett Publications, published December 1959, OCLC 768447, part 2, page 181:
- At first she "ran a temperature" in American parlance, and I could not resist the exquisite caloricity of unexpected delights—Venus febriculosa—though it was a very languid Lolita that moaned and coughed and shivered in my embrace.
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- Of a person or their movement: showing a dislike for physical effort; leisurely, unhurried.
- 1818, John Keats, “Book II”, in Endymion: A Poetic Romance, London: […] [T. Miller] for Taylor and Hessey, […], OCLC 1467112, lines 873–876, page 94:
- Loth was he to move / From the imprinted couch, and when he did, / 'Twas with slow, languid paces, and face hid / In muffling hands.
- 1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XXIII, in Lady Trevelyan (Hannah More Macaulay), editor, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume V, London: Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts, OCLC 1069526323, page 103:
- A consort was found for him in the royal family of France; and her beauty and grace gave him a languid pleasure.
- 1928 July, John Galsworthy, “Son of Sleeping Dove”, in Swan Song, London: William Heinemann, OCLC 612313209, part II, page 108:
- Val watched his back, languid and slim, till it was out of sight …
- 1946 January and February, 'Talisman', “Bückeburg to Aberayron”, in Railway Magazine, page 41:
- Darkness fell before we reached the Belgian frontier, and on through the night our train took her languid way.
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- Of a person or their actions, character, etc.: lacking drive, emotion, or enthusiasm; apathetic, listless, spiritless, unenthusiastic.
- 1648, Joseph Beaumont, “Canto XV. The The Poyson.”, in Psyche: Or Loves Mysterie, […], London: […] George Boddington, […], published 1651, OCLC 1227528801, stanza 179, page 287, column 1:
- VVith ſecret Checks her languid Soule ſhe chid / VVhich vvith ſuch violence never yet did flame; / Her Eyes hung dovvn; her Cheeks vvere over-ſpread / VVith bluſhing (but vvith ô hovv guiltleſſe!) ſhame: […]
- 1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, OCLC 79426475, Act I, scene iv, page 13:
- I'll haſten to my Troops, / And fire their languid Souls with Cato’s Virtue; […]
- 1742, [Alexander Pope], “Book the Fourth”, in The New Dunciad: As is[sic] It was Found in the Year 1741. […], Dublin: […] George Faulkner, OCLC 696000712, lines 43–44, page 14:
- [A] Harlot form ſoft-ſliding by, / VVith mincing ſtep, ſmall voice, and languid eye; […]
- 1774 April 19, Edmund Burke, Speech of Edmund Burke, Esq. on American Taxation, April 19, 1774, 2nd edition, London: […] J[ames] Dodsley, […], published 1775, OCLC 873432945, page 72:
- Far from any thing inflam[ma]tory, I never heard a more languid debate in this Houſe.
- 1816 March 23, Jane Austen, “Letter LXXXIV”, in Edward, Lord Brabourne, editor, Letters of Jane Austen, volume II, London: Richard Bentley & Son, […], published 1884, OCLC 469338936, page 301:
- I was languid and dull and very bad company when I wrote the above; I am better now, to my own feelings at least, and wish I may be more agreeable.
- 1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, “A Quarrel about an Heiress”, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, OCLC 3174108, page 181:
- George had an air at once swaggering and melancholy, languid and fierce.
- 1848 April – 1849 October, E[dward] Bulwer-Lytton, chapter III, in The Caxtons: A Family Picture, volume I, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, published 1849, OCLC 1181050081, part I, pages 15–16:
- Too lazy or too languid where only his own interests were at stake—touch his benevolence, and all the wheels of the clockwork felt the impetus of the master-spring.
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- Of a colour: not bright; dull, muted.
- Of an idea, writing, etc.: dull, uninteresting.
- c. 1803–1805, Jane Austen, “The Watsons”, in J[ames] E[dward] Austen[-]Leigh, A Memoir of Jane Austen: […] to which is Added Lady Susan and Fragments of Two Other Unfinished Tales by Miss Austen, 2nd edition, London: Richard Bentley and Son, […], published 1871, OCLC 45579380, pages 308–309:
- [S]ome very languid remarks on the probable brilliancy of the ball were all that broke, at intervals, a silence of half-an-hour, before they were joined by the master of the house.
- 1865, Thomas Carlyle, “Winter-Quarters 1760–61”, in History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Called Frederick the Great, volume VI, London: Chapman and Hall, […], OCLC 156109991, book XX, page 152:
- He had written certain thin Books, all of a thin languid nature; but rational, clear; especially a Book of Fables in Verse, which are watery, but not wholly water, and have still a languid flavour in them for readers.
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- Of a period of time: characterized by lack of activity; pleasant and relaxed; unstressful.
- 1764 December 19 (indicated as 1765), Oliver Goldsmith, The Traveller, or A Prospect of Society. A Poem. […], London: […] J[ohn] Newbery, […], OCLC 1205185272, page 12:
- Unknown to them, when ſenſual pleaſures cloy, / To fill the languid pauſe with finer joy; […]
- 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter I, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), OCLC 630079698, page 1:
- Toil is the portion of day, as sleep is that of night; but if there be one hour of the twenty-four which has the life of day without its labour, and the rest of night without its slumber, it is the lovely and languid hour of twilight.
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- Of a thing: lacking energy, liveliness, or strength; inactive, slow-moving, weak.
- languid breathing languid movements
- 1646, Thomas Browne, “Compendiously of Sundry Tenents Concerning Other Animals, which Examined prove either False or Dubious”, in Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], London: […] T[homas] H[arper] for Edward Dod, […], OCLC 1008551266, 3rd book, paragraph 10, page 176:
- [T]he ſound [of bees or flies] is ſtrongeſt in dry vveather, and very vveake in rainy ſeaſon, and tovvard vvinter; for then the ayre is moyſt, and the invvard ſpirit grovving vveake, makes a languid and dumbe alliſion upon the parts.
- 1717, Homer; [Alexander] Pope, transl., “Book IX”, in The Iliad of Homer, volume III, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott […], OCLC 670734254, lines 325–328, page 16:
- [W]hen the languid Flames at length ſubſide, / He ſtrovvs a Bed of glovving Embers vvide, / Above the Coals the ſmoaking Fragments turns, / And ſprinkles ſacred Salt from lifted Urns; […]
- 1753 March 10, Samuel Johnson [et al.], “Number XXXVI. SATURDAY, March 10, 1753.”, in The Adventurer, volume I, London: […] J[ohn] Payne, […], published 1753, OCLC 14705934, page 212:
- As love vvithout eſteem, is volatile and capricious; eſteem vvithout love, is languid and cold.
- 1832 December (indicated as 1833), Alfred Tennyson, “A Dream of Fair Women”, in Poems, London: Edward Moxon, […], OCLC 3944791, stanza XXV, page 128:
- I knew the flowers, I knew the leaves, I knew / The tearful glimmer of the languid dawn / On those long, rank, dark woodwalks drenched in dew, / Leading from lawn to lawn.
- 1894, George du Maurier, “Part First”, in Trilby: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, OCLC 174215199, pages 11–12:
- His thick, heavy, languid, lustreless black hair fell down behind his ears on to his shoulders, in that musicianlike way that is so offensive to the normal Englishman.
Derived terms
- languidly
- languidness
Related terms
- languish
- languor
- languorous
Translations
of a person or animal, or their body functions: flagging from weakness, or inactive or weak, especially due to illness or tiredness — See also translations at faint, listless
of a person or their movement: showing a dislike for physical effort — see leisurely, unhurried
of a person or their actions, character, etc.: lacking drive, emotion, or enthusiasm
|
of a colour: not bright — see dull, muted
of an idea, writing, etc.: dull, uninteresting
|
of a period of time: characterized by lack of activity — see relaxed, unstressful
of a thing: lacking energy, liveliness, or strength — see inactive, slow-moving, weak
Etymology 2
A variant of languet.[2]
Noun
languid (plural languids)
- Synonym of languet (“a flat plate in (or opposite and below the mouth of) the pipe of an organ”)
- Synonym: (rare) language
- 1913, William Horatio Clarke, “Double Languids”, in Standard Organ Building, Boston, Mass.: Richard G. Badger, the Gorham Press, OCLC 903899925, page 150:
- A new method of voicing flue pipes has recently been introduced by which a greater volume of tone is obtained without increasing the wind pressure. This is accomplished by making use of TWO languids in metal pipes with a space between the upper and lower languids. As may be required, a small hole is bored in either of the languids, or in the back of the pipe in the space between the two languids.
Translations
synonym of languet — see languet
References
- Compare “languid, adj.”, in OED Online
, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022; “languid, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022. - “languid, n.”, in OED Online , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022.
Further reading
fatigue on Wikipedia.Wikipedia - languid in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
Anagrams
- Gauldin, dualing, lauding