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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Related Words

See inactive.

Other Word Forms

• torpidity
  noun
• torpidly
  adverb
• torpidness
  noun

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

Adds that his own theory is that the Torpid was sunk by somebody throwing rocks at it from the shore.

From Further Foolishness by Leacock, Stephen

Torpid after their big meal, they had fallen asleep in their hiding-place, feeling perfectly secure from detection.

From The Carroll Girls by Quiller-Couch, Mabel

VIII.—That no college be allowed to enter more than one boat for the Eights, unless it has had on a Torpid in the same year.

From Rowing by Lehmann, Rudolf Chambers

His oratorical efforts at the Union were not very striking, but he rowed in his College Torpid, which was bumped four times.

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 100, April 18, 1891 by Various