languish
verb
lan·guish
ˈlaŋ-gwish 
languished; languishing; languishes
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
Edith WhartonExamples of languish in a Sentence
older people, especially, were languishing during the prolonged heat wave
Recent Examples on the Web
Created in 2019, the specification had languished in relative obscurity for years because the cheap, plentiful non-Express microSD cards were generally fast enough for the things that people were using them for, and because most hardware didn't support microSD Express cards in the first place.
—Andrew Cunningham, ArsTechnica, 15 Aug. 2025
One of them had languished for more than a year on GitHub, the online clearing house where programmers, amateur and professional alike, stow, share, and sometimes abandon their software projects.
—Dan Rockmore, New Yorker, 9 Aug. 2025
Tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of condo units are languishing on the market these days, and not just because high interest rates and high prices are combining to keep away would-be buyers.
—Lew Sichelman, Miami Herald, 6 Aug. 2025
The vehicle proved a laughing stock in the press, and buyers never showed up; while the Navigator moved almost 44,000 units in its first full year on sale, the Blackwood languished in showrooms, prompting Lincoln to axe it after one model year and just 3,383 sales.
—Will Sabel Courtney, Robb Report, 5 Aug. 2025
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Andrew Cunningham, ArsTechnica, 15 Aug. 2025
One of them had languished for more than a year on GitHub, the online clearing house where programmers, amateur and professional alike, stow, share, and sometimes abandon their software projects.
—Dan Rockmore, New Yorker, 9 Aug. 2025
Tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of condo units are languishing on the market these days, and not just because high interest rates and high prices are combining to keep away would-be buyers.
—Lew Sichelman, Miami Herald, 6 Aug. 2025
The vehicle proved a laughing stock in the press, and buyers never showed up; while the Navigator moved almost 44,000 units in its first full year on sale, the Blackwood languished in showrooms, prompting Lincoln to axe it after one model year and just 3,383 sales.
—Will Sabel Courtney, Robb Report, 5 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for languish
Cite this Entry
“Languish.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/languish. Accessed 21 Aug. 2025.
Copy CitationKids 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
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