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

The Razorbacks had only two wins over high-major opponents all season until Wednesday night: a three-point road win against Miami, which is now languishing at the bottom of the ACC standings, and a two-point win over Michigan at Madison Square Garden. —Cj Moore, The Athletic, 22 Jan. 2025

The Warriors are languishing in 11th place in the Western Conference with a record of 21-21. —Jamie Barton, CNN, 21 Jan. 2025

Horton shares languish at about 10 times the company’s per-share earnings. —John Dorfman, Forbes, 20 Jan. 2025

Updating data One key resource that could languish under the Trump administration is the Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental Justice Screening and Mapping Tool, EJScreen. —Justine Calma, The Verge, 18 Jan. 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

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