torpid

¹ American  

[tawr-pid] / ˈtɔr pɪd /

adjective

1. inactive or sluggish.

   Antonyms:

   energetic

2. slow; dull; apathetic; lethargic.

   Synonyms:

   indolent

3. dormant, as a hibernating or estivating animal.

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torpid ² American  

[tawr-pid] / ˈtɔr pɪd /

noun

1. an eight-oared, clinker-built boat used for races at Oxford University during the Lenten term.

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torpid British  

/ ˈtɔːpɪd /

adjective

1. apathetic, sluggish, or lethargic

2. (of a hibernating animal) dormant; having greatly reduced metabolic activity

3. unable to move or feel

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Synonym Usage

See inactive.

Other Word Forms

• torpidity
  noun
• torpidness
  noun
• torpidly
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of torpid¹

First recorded in 1605–15; from Latin torpidus “numb,” equivalent to torp(ēre) “to be stiff or numb” + -idus -id ⁴

Origin of torpid²

First recorded in 1830–40; special use of torpid ¹

Explanation

While the adjective torpid sounds a lot like the noun torpedo, it actually describes something slow or even inactive, like the torpedo that's just sitting around before it's launched. Torpid comes from the Latin word torpere, meaning "numb," which is exactly how torpid things act. A hibernating bear and a caterpillar holed up in a cocoon are two good examples. You might feel torpid sitting in front of the fire after a big meal. The mind, too, can become torpid. The writer Samuel Johnson said, “It is a man’s own fault, it is from want of use, if his mind grow torpid in old age.”

Example Sentences

Torpid delegates broke into a roar of delight.

From Time Magazine Archive

Does a bookseller misdirect a parcel, he exclaims, 'My malison on all Blockheadisms and Torpid Infidelities of which this world is full.'

From Obiter Dicta by Birrell, Augustine

The rain, in lines, The long, gray rain untwines Its watery tresses o'er its furrows, The long rain Of countries old, Torpid, eternally unrolled.

From Contemporary Belgian Poetry Selected and Translated by Jethro Bithell by Various

Torpid: lying motionless by reason of cold or other natural conditions that unfavorably affect the organism.

From Explanation of Terms Used in Entomology by Smith, John. B.

Torpid or frantic, they dwell in my conscience.

From The Temptation of St. Antony or A Revelation of the Soul by Flaubert, Gustave