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
The family moved to Kyiv before school started in the fall, resettling in a block of apartments that had been hastily reserved for families like theirs, edging out others who had been languishing on the housing list.
—Lizzie Johnson, New Yorker, 25 Apr. 2026
Nothing like a little bad blood to breathe a little life into a languishing rivalry.
—Bill Shaikin, Los Angeles Times, 23 Apr. 2026
Community radio saw expansion in some African countries, most notably Benin, Mali, Mozambique, and South Africa, but has languished in others—most notably Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, where regulatory hurdles and high licensing fees have hampered the expansion of community radio.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 23 Apr. 2026
His body languished for years inside the room-temperature building in Penrose with other corpses before their discovery.
—ABC News, 23 Apr. 2026
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Lizzie Johnson, New Yorker, 25 Apr. 2026
Nothing like a little bad blood to breathe a little life into a languishing rivalry.
—Bill Shaikin, Los Angeles Times, 23 Apr. 2026
Community radio saw expansion in some African countries, most notably Benin, Mali, Mozambique, and South Africa, but has languished in others—most notably Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, where regulatory hurdles and high licensing fees have hampered the expansion of community radio.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 23 Apr. 2026
His body languished for years inside the room-temperature building in Penrose with other corpses before their discovery.
—ABC News, 23 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for languish
Cite this Entry
“Languish.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/languish. Accessed 28 Apr. 2026.
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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