as in to fade
to lose bodily strength or vigor
older people, especially, were languishing during the prolonged heat wave
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Recent Examples of languish
Meanwhile, the remaining Israeli hostages who have not been murdered by Hamas continue to languish in the tunnels beneath Gaza.
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Dalia Dassa Kaye, Foreign Affairs, 2 Oct. 2024
Non-perishable goods are expected to languish at ports until action is taken.
—Quartz Staff, Quartz, 1 Oct. 2024
Patients languish for hours in overcrowded emergency rooms, and ambulances struggle to handover new patients.
—Katherine Hignett, Forbes, 27 Oct. 2024
The sport is languishing locally, with lower attendance, mutuel handle and foal crop (number of horses born).
—John Cherwa, Los Angeles Times, 17 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for languish 
Dalia Dassa Kaye, Foreign Affairs, 2 Oct. 2024
Non-perishable goods are expected to languish at ports until action is taken.
—Quartz Staff, Quartz, 1 Oct. 2024
Patients languish for hours in overcrowded emergency rooms, and ambulances struggle to handover new patients.
—Katherine Hignett, Forbes, 27 Oct. 2024
The sport is languishing locally, with lower attendance, mutuel handle and foal crop (number of horses born).
—John Cherwa, Los Angeles Times, 17 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for languish
Recent Examples of Synonyms for languish
Verb
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That paycheck or applause fades into the background as soon as a bigger challenge arises.Akin Akinpelu, Forbes, 5 Nov. 2024
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Each spritz creates a waterproof barrier to ensure your glam doesn't melt or fade throughout the day.Jennifer Hussein, Allure, 4 Nov. 2024
Verb
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Such a test would be a sign of China’s weakening influence over Pyongyang and could spur Seoul to try to acquire nuclear weapons of its own—a position that both South Korea and the United States officially oppose but is gaining traction in Western policy circles.Sungmin Cho, Foreign Affairs, 12 Nov. 2024
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With its climate leadership perceived to be weakening, New Zealand may get a cooler reception at COP than in previous years, especially from Pacific Island nations, Cooper said.Mahalia Dobson, NBC News, 10 Nov. 2024
Verb
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Tough way for the drive to end for Philly, which opted to kick a short field goal instead of going for the tie.Greg Rosenstein, NBC News, 15 Nov. 2024
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Filippone recently sold a condo whose agent went into contract, then didn’t send in his client’s application.Adriane Quinlan, Curbed, 14 Nov. 2024
Verb
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To be fair, popularity among the nation’s three biggest states sagged.Jonathan Lansner, Orange County Register, 1 Nov. 2024
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With a rich texture and a citrus scent, the cream targets sagging skin with firming collagen and amino acids.Jenny Berg, Vogue, 31 Oct. 2024
Verb
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The algorithm failed to de-age the neck on some subjects.PCMAG, PCMAG, 12 Nov. 2024
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Taylor, in Bonneville County, has failed to provide any records to that committee for at least eight years.Audrey Dutton, ProPublica, 11 Nov. 2024
Verb
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Those losses sank her into a morass of regret and substance use, which spurred a break from the industry to recollect.Andre Gee, Rolling Stone, 5 Nov. 2024
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Kyiv has wielded its Neptune anti-ship missile, successfully sinking Black Sea Fleet flagship the Moskva in the early days of the war.Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 4 Nov. 2024
Verb
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Why did the McDonalds attract such withering criticism?John Blake, CNN, 3 Nov. 2024
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For one, Trump’s criticism of Amazon (and Bezos) over the years has been withering, even if the administration was personally lucrative for Amazon’s founder.Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 31 Oct. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Languish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/languish. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.
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