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

• fade
• weaken
• go
• sag
• fail
• sink
• wither

Examples of languish in a Sentence

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

Recent Examples on the Web

Since then, oil prices have languished. —Matthew Martin, semafor.com, 9 Oct. 2025

But Ohad languished as a prisoner of Hamas for 491 days — much of that time spent underground in Hamas’ vast tunnel system. —Nbc News, NBC news, 8 Oct. 2025

The country ranks 118th among 148 economies, the lowest among G-7 members, in the World Economic Forum’s 2025 Global Gender Gap Report, languishing particularly in the political empowerment metric. —Chad De Guzman, Time, 4 Oct. 2025

Only Kordia — mischaracterized by the government, largely overlooked by the public and caught in a legal maze — languishes in detention. —Dave Smith, Fortune, 3 Oct. 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