Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To be or become weak or feeble; lose strength or vigor.
  • intransitive verb To exist or continue in miserable or disheartening conditions.
  • intransitive verb To remain unattended or be neglected.
  • intransitive verb To become downcast or pine away in longing.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To become weak or spiritless; become listless or sad; lose strength or animation; pine: as, to languish in solitude.
  • To droop, wither, or fade, as a plant, from heat, drought, neglect, or other unfavorable conditions.
  • To grow feeble or dull; lose activity and vigor; dwindle; fall off: as, the war languished for lack of supplies; manufactures languished.
  • To act languidly; present or assume a languid appearance or expression, especially as an indication of tender or enervating emotion.
  • Synonyms To decline, faint, fail.
  • To cause to droop or fail.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Obs. or Poetic See languishment.
  • intransitive verb obsolete To cause to droop or pine.
  • intransitive verb To become languid or weak; to lose strength or animation; to be or become dull, feeble or spiritless; to pine away; to linger in a weak or deteriorating condition; to wither or fade.
  • intransitive verb To assume an expression of weariness or tender grief, appealing for sympathy.
  • intransitive verb To be neglected and unattended to.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb lose vigor, health, or flesh, as through grief
  • verb become feeble
  • verb have a desire for something or someone who is not present

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English languishen, from Old French languir, languiss-, from Latin languēre, to be languid; see slēg- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From the participle stem of Anglo-Norman and Middle French languir, from Late Latin languire, alteration of Latin languēre ("to be faint, unwell"). Compare languor.

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Examples

  • V. ii.42 (250,7) rids our dogs of languish] For _languish_, I think we may read, _anguish_.

    Notes to Shakespeare, Volume III: The Tragedies Samuel Johnson 1746

  • Predicting that recent volatility in such flows will continue or even increase, RBS anticipates that the rupee may "languish" in the 46 rupees-47. 50 rupees range over the next three months, with an upside bias for the dollar.

    Shaky Flows May Keep Indian Rupee as Asian Laggard 2010

  • I was, you know, spending a lot of time -- when you're a stand-up comedian, you have 23 hours of the day to just kind of languish and wait for the gig and do a little writing.

    CNN Transcript Apr 23, 2009 2009

  • This, while nearly three billion human beings subsist (or "languish") on less than $2 a day.

    We've Seen This Future and It Doesn't Work Very Well 2009

  • I was, you know, spending a lot of time -- when you're a stand-up comedian, you have 23 hours of the day to just kind of languish and wait for the gig and do a little writing.

    CNN Transcript Apr 26, 2009 2009

  • I mean the fact that this has been accomplished in two years time, because John Paul II was put on the fast track, and they put a lot of people on this project but there are plenty of others who kind of languish in obscurity.

    CNN Transcript Mar 30, 2007 2007

  • We have seen things like Project Exile really kind of languish under the Clinton-Gore administration.

    CNN Transcript - CNN Late Edition: Latest Polls Show Bush Leading Presidential Race - October 22, 2000 2000

  • While cases would "languish" in the Rota, the CDF handled cases "expeditiously, fairly, and with due regard to the rights of all the parties involved."

    Latest Articles cna 2010

  • While cases would "languish" in the Rota, the CDF handled cases "expeditiously, fairly, and with due regard to the rights of all the parties involved."

    Latest Articles cna 2010

  • If not, he warns, Paris will "languish" like a "cancerous cell unable to grow".

    The Times of India 2010

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