lukewarm

English

Etymology

From Middle English leukwarm, lukewarm (“lukewarm, tepid”), equivalent to luke (“lukewarm”) +‎ warm. Compare Saterland Frisian luukwoarm (“lukewarm”), German Low German luukwarm (“lukewarm”),German lauwarm (“lukewarm”). First element believed to be an alteration of Middle English lew (“tepid”) (> English dialectal lew), from Old English hlēow (“warm, sunny”), from Proto-Germanic *hliwjaz, *hlēwaz, *hlūmaz, *hleumaz (“warm”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱal(w)e-, *ḱel(w)e-, *k(')lēw- (“warm, hot”). Cognate with Dutch lauw (“tepid”), German lauwarm (“lukewarm”), Faroese lýggjur (“warm”), Swedish ljum (“lukewarm”), ljummen (“lukewarm”) and ly (“warm”), Danish lummer (“muggy”), Danish and Norwegian lunken (“tepid”), Swedish dialectal ljummen (“lukewarm”).

Pronunciation

Rhymes: -ɔː(r)m
(UK) IPA^(key): /ˌluːkˈwɔːm/
(US) IPA^(key): /ˌlukˈwɔɹm/, /ˈluk.wɔɹm/
Audio (US) (file)

Adjective

lukewarm (not comparable)

(temperature) Between warm and cool.
Wash it in lukewarm water.
My curry is lukewarm.
Not very enthusiastic (about a proposal or an idea).
The suggestion met with only a lukewarm response.
- 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 10, in The Celebrity:
  The skipper Mr. Cooke had hired at Far Harbor was a God-fearing man with a luke warm interest in his new billet and employer, and had only been prevailed upon to take charge of the yacht after the offer of an emolument equal to half a year's sea pay of an ensign in the navy.

Synonyms

tepid

Translations

temperature

Arabic:
Moroccan Arabic: دافي‎ m (dafi)
Bashkir: имшеү (imšew), йылымыс (yïlïmïs), йылымса (yïlïmsa)
Catalan: tebi m, tèbia f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 溫 (zh), 温 (zh) (wēn)
Czech: vlažný (cs) m
Danish: lunken
Dutch: lauw (nl)
Emilian: tevad
Esperanto: varmeta
Estonian: leige
Finnish: haalea (fi)
French: tiède (fr)
Friulian: tivid
Galician: tépedo (gl), morno (gl)
German: lauwarm (de)
Greek: χλιαρός (el) m (chliarós)
Ancient: χλιαρός (khliarós)
Guaraní: akyvy
Hebrew: פּוֹשֵׁר‎ (he) m (posher)
Hungarian: langyos (hu)
Ido: varmeta (io)
Indonesian: hangat-hangat
Interlingua: tepide
Irish: bog, alabhog, alathe, bogthe
Italian: tiepido (it) m, tiepida (it) f
Japanese: ぬるい (ja) (nurui), 生暖かい (nama-atatakai), 生ぬるい (namanurui)
Kazakh: қанжылым (qanjılım)
Korean: 미지근한 (mijigeunhan)
Kurdish:
Sorani: شلتێن‎ (shiltén)

Latgalian: rondons
Latin: tepidus
Latvian: remdens
Macedonian: млак m (mlak)
Malay: suam
Maori: aromahana
Marathi: कोमट (komaṭ)
Norman: tchiède
Norwegian: lunken (no)
Persian: ولرم‎ (fa) (velarm)
Polish: chłodny (pl), letni (pl)
Portuguese: morno (pt), tépido (pt)
Quechua: pari
Romagnol: tevvd
Russian: теплова́тый (ru) (teplovátyj), чуть тёплый (čutʹ tjóplyj)
Scottish Gaelic: flodach
Serbo-Croatian: mlako (sh) n
Slovene: mlačen (sl)
Spanish: tibio (es), templado (es)
Swedish: ljum (sv), ljummen (sv)
Tagalog: maligamgam
Telugu: గోరువెచ్చని (te) (gōruveccani)
Thai: อุ่นๆ (oon-oon)
Turkish: ılık (tr)
Ukrainian: теплуватий (tepluvatyj)
Vietnamese: ấm (vi), âm ấm (vi)
Walloon: tiene (wa) m or f
Welsh: llugoer (cy)
West Frisian: lij

not very enthusiastic

Catalan: tebi m, tèbia f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 不热情的, 冷淡的
Czech: vlažný (cs) m
Dutch: lauw (nl), flauw (nl)
Esperanto: indiferenta (eo), neentuziasma
Finnish: vaimea (fi), laimea (fi)
French: tiède (fr)
Galician: morno (gl)
German: lau (de)
Greek: χλιαρός (el) m (chliarós)
Hungarian: lagymatag (hu)
Ido: nezeloza

Interlingua: tepide
Irish: fuarbhruite, fuarspreosach, lagspreosach, patuar, fuarchráifeach (in religion)
Italian: tiepido (it) m, tiepida (it) f
Japanese: 冷めた (sameta), 白けた (shiraketa), 気が進まない (ki ga susumanai)
Norwegian: lunken (no)
Polish: chłodny (pl), sceptyczny (pl), zdystansowany
Portuguese: morno (pt)
Russian: прохла́дный (ru) (proxládnyj), равноду́шный (ru) (ravnodúšnyj), безразли́чный (ru) (bezrazlíčnyj)
Spanish: tibio (es), poco entusiasta, desinteresado (es), indiferente (es)
Swedish: ljum (sv), likgiltig (sv)
Turkish: umursamaz (tr), ilgisiz (tr), kayıtsız (tr)
Vietnamese: thờ ơ (vi), lãnh đạm (vi), hờ hững (vi)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} suam-suam kuku

Volapük: ^{(please verify)} vamülik (vo)