languish

verb

lan·guish ˈlaŋ-gwish

languished; languishing; languishes

Synonyms of languish next

intransitive verb

: to be or become feeble, weak, or enervated

Plants languish in the drought.

: to be or live in a state of depression or decreasing vitality

languished in prison for ten years

: to become dispirited

: to suffer neglect

the bill languished in the Senate for eight months

: 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

Example Sentences

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

Recent Examples on the Web Those elevated costs, combined with languishing tenant revenues resulting from falling occupancy rates, could create a perfect storm for defaults and delinquencies. —

Will Daniel, Fortune, 1 June 2023 Shinjo’s Fighters finished last in Japan’s Pacific League in his managerial debut season last year and are languishing once again in 2023. —

Brad Lefton, New York Times, 23 May 2023 In 2021, Liberty members whose medical bills languished and were referred to collections filed a class-action lawsuit against the Beers family, the ministry and the two vendors. —

J. David Mcswane, ProPublica, 15 May 2023 Busch needs to play every day and languishing on the bench in the majors does his career no favors. —

Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 15 May 2023 Statham fell off and in 2019 Bautista first came aboard before the project once again languished. —

Borys Kit, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 May 2023 The election has unearthed deep fault lines in Thai society, pitting an older generation that sees the military as protectors of the crown against the country’s youth, who say Thailand has languished under military rule. —

Vasapa Wanichwethin, Washington Post, 14 May 2023 The Lions then hired Wood as team president, but have languished in a state of mediocrity for years. —

Dave Birkett, Detroit Free Press, 10 May 2023 Her family has been languishing in a migrant shelter, waiting to get an appointment with United States officials to request asylum – a disheartening reality for millions of migrants in northern Mexican border cities over the past three years, since the U.S. issued Title 42. —

Whitney Eulich, The Christian Science Monitor, 9 May 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'languish.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.