languish

as in to fade
to lose bodily strength or vigor older people, especially, were languishing during the prolonged heat wave

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of languish Turning a blind eye to our languishing children, President Donald Trump slashes education spending, harming disabled pupils and denying families relief from college debt. Bruce Fuller, Mercury News, 27 Mar. 2025 As the years rolled by, the project languished. Dan Walters, The Mercury News, 10 Mar. 2025 Plans for a redevelopment of the languishing Enfield Square mall could get a crucial $10 million boost from a state economic development fund that could help lay the groundwork for razing the old mall and replacing it with apartments, hotels and new retail space. Kenneth R. Gosselin, Hartford Courant, 10 Mar. 2025 Recent bills that would make daylight saving time the national year-round standard have languished in committee after being introduced in January. Anthony Robledo, USA TODAY, 7 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for languish
Recent Examples of Synonyms for languish
Verb
  • As the water diluted the stains, the fabric faded to a soft pink.
    Rebecca Ruth Gould, JSTOR Daily, 9 Apr. 2025
  • Curiosity fades fast when people don’t feel safe to use it.
    Dr. Diane Hamilton, Forbes.com, 9 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • Agreeing to a pick swap with the Lynx weakened the value of the pick that the Sky traded away.
    Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 14 Apr. 2025
  • One by one, the sectors defect, and, eventually, the leader may weaken and their government may fall.
    Julia Angwin, New Yorker, 12 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • If one or two bounces had gone the other way, Dartmouth would have advanced to the final four for the first time in school history.
    Jay King, New York Times, 13 Apr. 2025
  • Instead, the Knicks went 0-10 against the league’s top three teams (the Celtics, Cavaliers and Thunder).
    James L. Edwards III, New York Times, 13 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • The production sagged to .214/.239/.312 the next year, leading the Guardians to waive him after the season.
    Jeff Sanders, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Apr. 2025
  • Here, a patchy pattern of material with that same high seismic velocity sagged to a depth of nearly 600 kilometers, almost to the lower mantle.
    Meghan Bartels, Scientific American, 17 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • Most failed to hit their targets and crashed into the ocean.
    CBS News, CBS News, 11 Apr. 2025
  • Instead, the bills failed to pass, and Democrat Assemblymember Rick Zbur compared them to Nazi Germany practices.
    Jackson Thompson, FOXNews.com, 10 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • Kamikaze sank their first ship on Oct. 25, 1944, when a navy Zero pilot smashed into the USS St. Lo in the Philippine Sea while carrying a pair of 550-pound bombs.
    CBS News, CBS News, 11 Apr. 2025
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 320 points, or 0.84%, while the Nasdaq Composite shed 2.15%.
    Josephine Rozzelle, CNBC, 9 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • Orwell’s opinion of Wodehouse’s attackers was withering.
    Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 18 Apr. 2025
  • Factories closed, workers were laid off and heartland communities withered.
    Time, Time, 9 Apr. 2025

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Languish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/languish. Accessed 25 Apr. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on languish

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!