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languor.

A state of the body or mind caused by exhaustion or disease and characterized by a languid or weary feeling; lassitude; (countable) an instance of this.

7 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈlæŋɡə/Received-Pronunciation/ˈlæŋɡɚ/General-American/ˈleɪ̯ŋɡɚ//ˈlɛ̃ŋɡɚ/
  1. A state of the body or mind caused by exhaustion or disease and characterized by a languid or weary feeling; lassitude; (countable) an instance of this.

    uncountable
    languor of convalescence
  2. Melancholy caused by lovesickness, sadness, etc.; (countable) an instance of this.

    uncountable
  3. Dullness, sluggishness; lack of vigour; stagnation.

    uncountable
  4. Listless indolence or inactivity, especially if enjoyable or relaxing; dreaminess; (countable) an instance of this.

    uncountable
  5. Heavy humidity and stillness of the air.

    uncountable
  6. Sorrow; suffering; also, enfeebling disease or illness; (countable, obsolete) an instance of this.

    obsolete · uncountable
Where this word comes from

The noun is derived from Middle English langore, langour (“disease, illness; misery, sadness; suffering; condition or event causing sadness, suffering, etc.; unwholesomeness; idleness, inertia; depression, self-disgust; expression of grief”) [and other forms], from Middle French languer, langueur, langour, and Anglo-Norman langor, langour, langur, Old French langueur, languour (“disease, illness; suffering; emotional fatigue, sadness; listlessness; stagnation”) (modern French langueur (“languor”)), and from their etymon Latin languor (“faintness, feebleness; languor; apathy”), from languēre, the present active infinitive of langueō (“to feel faint or weak; (figurative) to be idle, inactive; to be listless”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)leg-, *(s)leh₁g-. The English word is cognate with Catalan llangor, Italian languore (“faintness, weakness; languor”), langore (obsolete), Old Occitan langor (modern Occitan langor), Portuguese langor, languor (obsolete), Spanish langor.

verb/ˈlæŋɡə/Received-Pronunciation/ˈlæŋɡɚ/General-American/ˈleɪ̯ŋɡɚ//ˈlɛ̃ŋɡɚ/
  1. To languish.

    intransitive
Where this word comes from

The verb is derived from Middle English langouren (“to be ill; to languish, suffer; to cause to suffer”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman langurer and Middle French langorer, langorir, langourer (“to languish; to be languorous”), from Old French languerer, from langueur (“disease, illness; suffering; emotional fatigue, sadness; listlessness; stagnation”); see further at etymology 1 above. Later uses of the verb have been influenced by the noun.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.