languor
Americannoun
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lack of energy or vitality; sluggishness.
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lack of spirit or interest; listlessness; stagnation.
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physical weakness or faintness.
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emotional softness or tenderness.
noun
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physical or mental laziness or weariness
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a feeling of dreaminess and relaxation
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oppressive silence or stillness
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of languor
1250–1300; < Latin ( see languish, -or 1); replacing Middle English langour sickness, woe < Old French < Latin
Explanation
When you are sick or heartbroken and too tired to get out of bed, the listlessness you feel is called languor. It's sluggishness and slowness, but usually with cause. The more commonly used word languish is closely related to languor. If you are languishing or becoming weaker, you are showing languor. Remember that languor implies a heaviness or slowness where there should be lightness or speed. There is no time for languor if you have an exam tomorrow, and you are just beginning to study now. And, a 100 degree day with 70% humidity can inspire languor in just about anyone.
Vocabulary lists containing languor
100 SAT Words Beginning with "J," "K," and "L"
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Pride and Prejudice
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The Awakening
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The long sobs / Of the violins / Of autumn / Wound my heart / With a monotonous / Languor.
From Forbes • Sep. 5, 2013
Languor and uneasiness seize on every one;—even the denizens of the forest betray it by their motions.
From The Western World Picturesque Sketches of Nature and Natural History in North and South America by Kingston, William Henry Giles
Languor and uneasiness would seize on every one, even the denizens of the forest, betraying it by their motions.
From The Naturalist on the River Amazons by Bates, Henry Walter
Languor, hysteria and general debility were regarded as the outward indications of a sweet and gentle character.
From The "Goldfish" by Train, Arthur Cheney
Languor and exhaustion now sat upon his haggard features; and the despairing glance which he sent forward through the depths of the forest proved his own conviction that his pilgrimage was at an end.
From Mosses from an Old Manse and other stories by Hawthorne, Nathaniel
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
