tepid

[tep-id]

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adjective

moderately warm; lukewarm: tepid water.

characterized by a lack of force or enthusiasm: tepid prose; the critics' tepid reception for the new play.

Nearby words

Origin of tepid

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin tepidus lukewarm, equivalent to tep(ēre) to be lukewarm + -idus -id⁴

SYNONYMS FOR tepid

1 moderate, mild. 2. unemotional, halfhearted, apathetic.

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Related forms

te·pid·i·ty, tep·id·ness, nountep·id·ly, adverbsub·tep·id, adjectivesub·tep·id·ly, adverb

sub·tep·id·ness, nounsub·te·pid·i·ty, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for tepid

You expect another shower of tepid excuses, but the mother simply shrugs.
Whatever You Do Someone Will Die. A Short Story About Impossible Choices in Iraq|Nathan Bradley Bethea|August 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
When the show finally premiered, reviews were tepid, at best.
The Failure of ‘Sean Saves the World’ Is Epically Disappointing|Kevin Fallon|January 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A few weeks ago, as I read things, there were occasional and tepid signals that the House would not take up the Senate bill.
Get Ready for More GOP Race Baiting|Michael Tomasky|June 28, 2013|DAILY BEAST
He has had a tepid relationship with organized labor and left-leaning third party the Working Families Party.
Liberals Slam Andrew Cuomo’s Deals With New York GOP|David Freedlander|December 9, 2012|DAILY BEAST

In a tepid and narrow ruling, the court threw a chicken bone to the petitioners and about 2,000 others.
Don’t Believe the Hype: Supreme Court Decision on Juvenile Life Without Parole Is Weak|David R. Dow|June 25, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Best with fresh absorbent cotton and tepid water, or a solution of boric acid, two teaspoonfuls to the pint.
The Care and Feeding of Children|L. Emmett Holt
About them circle the entire diocese and the tepid life of a university town.
Egoists|James Huneker
But the chief distinction is that one is tepid, the other frigid as ice.
The Strand Magazine, Volume XXVII, Issue 160, April, 1904|Various
Take three dishes, one of hot water, one of cold, and one of a mixture of the two that shall feel neither warm nor cold but tepid.
Natural Wonders|Edwin Tenney Brewster
He turned on the lights and without waiting to investigate, went into the shower-room and stood under the tepid deluge.
Parrot & Co.|Harold MacGrath

British Dictionary definitions for tepid

tepid

adjective

slightly warm; lukewarm

relatively unenthusiastic or apatheticthe play had a tepid reception

Derived Formstepidity or tepidness, nountepidly, adverb

Word Origin for tepid

C14: from Latin tepidus, from tepēre to be lukewarm

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for tepid

tepid

adj.

c.1400, from Latin tepidus "lukewarm," from tepere "be warm," from PIE root *tep- "warm" (cf. Sanskrit tapati "makes warm, heats, burns," tapah "heat;" Avestan tafnush "fever;" Old Church Slavonic topiti "to warm," teplu "warm;" Old Irish tene "fire;" Welsh tes "heat").

tepid

adjective

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of tepid

Examples from the Web for tepid

tepid

adjective

Word Origin for tepid

tepid