languish

verb

lan·​guish ˈlaŋ-gwish 

languished; languishing; languishes

intransitive verb

1

a

: to be or become feeble, weak, or enervated

Plants languish in the drought.

b

: to be or live in a state of depression or decreasing vitality

languished in prison for ten years

2

a

: to become dispirited

b

: to suffer neglect

the bill languished in the Senate for eight months

3

: to assume an expression of grief or emotion appealing for sympathy

languished at him through screwed-up eyes

—Edith Wharton

languisher noun

languishingly

ˈlaŋ-gwi-shiŋ-lē 

adverb

languishment

ˈlaŋ-gwish-mənt 

noun

Synonyms

• decay
• droop
• emaciate
• fade
• fail
• flag
• go
• lag
• sag
• sink
• waste (away)
• weaken
• wilt
• wither

Examples of languish in a Sentence

older people, especially, were languishing during the prolonged heat wave

Recent Examples on the Web

Oil prices languishing below $70—far from the $90 needed to balance its 2025 budget—complicate the Kingdom's financial planning. —Daniel R. Depetris, Newsweek, 25 Mar. 2025

The benchmark is currently languishing at about half that level. —Bloomberg, The Mercury News, 13 Mar. 2025

Obsessed with being seen as a proper Southern Belle, Blanche often lays around the apartment draped in her finest frocks, or takes long languishing baths even amid the suffocating heat of a Louisiana summer. —Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 12 Mar. 2025

United is currently languishing 14th in the Premier League and is on track to finish in its lowest league position in decades. —Ben Church, CNN, 11 Mar. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Anglo-French languiss-, stem of languir, from Vulgar Latin *languire, from Latin languēre

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for languish

• anguish

Kids Definition

languish

verb

lan·​guish ˈlaŋ-gwish 

1

: to become weak or languid : waste away

languish in prison

2

: to suffer neglect

a bill languishing in the Senate

languishment

-mənt 

noun