torpor

[ tawr-per ]

/ ˈtɔr pər /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR torpor ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

sluggish inactivity or inertia.

lethargic indifference; apathy.

a state of suspended physical powers and activities.

dormancy, as of a hibernating animal.

Nearby words

torpedo-boat destroyer, torpedoman, torpex, torpid, torpidly, torpor, torpor retinae, torporific, torquate, torquay, torque

Origin of torpor

1600–10; < Latin: numbness, equivalent to torp(ēre) to be stiff or numb + -or -or¹

SYNONYMS FOR torpor

2 stolidity, listlessness, lethargy.

4 sleepiness, slumber, drowsiness.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR torpor ON THESAURUS.COM

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

Examples from the Web for torpor

These are times of torpor in Paris, politically as well as economically.
The Gunslinger of Rue Miromesnil|Christopher Dickey|December 23, 2013|DAILY BEAST
But it was first and foremost an attempt to wake up America from the torpor of the daily grind under its meritocratic overlords.
Miley Cyrus's Smartest Tattoo|James Poulos|September 28, 2013|DAILY BEAST
He relapsed into a sort of torpor from which he was aroused by enthusiastic applause and bravos.
The Nabob, Vol. 2 (of 2)|Alphonse Daudet
Only torpor is the supreme sin, even as in The Statue and the Bust where effort would have been to a criminal end.
English Literature: Modern|G. H. Mair

He was like the weary traveler who drops into the snow-bank, on whom the torpor steals by slow degrees.
Grenfell: Knight-Errant of the North|Fullerton Waldo
The fear of indiscretion on the part of the boy startles me from my torpor.
Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist|Alexander Berkman
In reality there was in this whole movement a little of that torpor which succeeds a long repose.
History of the Expedition to Russia|Count Philip de Segur

British Dictionary definitions for torpor

torpor

/ (ˈtɔːpə) /

noun

a state of torpidity

Derived Forms

torporific, adjective

Word Origin for torpor

C17: from Latin: inactivity, from torpēre to be motionless

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

Medicine definitions for torpor

torpor

[ tôr′pər ]

n.

A state of mental or physical inactivity or insensibility.

Lethargy; apathy.

Related forms

tor′po•rif′ic (-pə-rĭf′ĭk) adj.