Definition of languornext

Synonym Chooser

How does the noun languor contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of languor are lassitude, lethargy, stupor, and torpor. While all these words mean "physical or mental inertness," languor suggests inertia induced by an enervating climate or illness or love.

languor induced by a tropical vacation

When is it sensible to use lassitude instead of languor?

While the synonyms lassitude and languor are close in meaning, lassitude stresses listlessness or indifference resulting from fatigue or poor health.

a depression marked by lassitude

When can lethargy be used instead of languor?

The meanings of lethargy and languor largely overlap; however, lethargy implies such drowsiness or aversion to activity as is induced by disease, injury, or drugs.

months of lethargy followed my accident

When could stupor be used to replace languor?

The synonyms stupor and languor are sometimes interchangeable, but stupor implies a deadening of the mind and senses by shock, narcotics, or intoxicants.

lapsed into an alcoholic stupor

When might torpor be a better fit than languor?

While in some cases nearly identical to languor, torpor implies a state of suspended animation as of hibernating animals but may suggest merely extreme sluggishness.

a once alert mind now in a torpor

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of languor No wilting languor on this veranda — for that matter, no veranda either — just ferocity, desperation, and, of course, brutal desire. Sara Holdren, Vulture, 4 Dec. 2025 Nothing like a little languor and ennui — and in crisp black-and-white — on the Algerian coast to usher out winter and into spring. Jay Cannon, USA Today, 25 Oct. 2025 Infield singles by Jake Cronenworth and Tatis in the eighth inning, both of which caromed off pitcher Gregory Soto, broke up the offensive languor but did not result in the game being any closer. Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Sep. 2025 On Girl Violence, Strauss drenches her songs in feedback and languor, adding heat to her expressions of desire and comfort to her feelings of anxiety. Maura Johnston, Rolling Stone, 16 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for languor
Recent Examples of Synonyms for languor
Noun
  • Many refugees came to her complaining of the headaches and sores and bodily pains that come from extreme stress and extreme boredom, of bedding on cold floors and being awoken through the night by explosions.
    James Verini, The Atlantic, 12 May 2026
  • Happily, in his aptly peculiar film, docmaker Xander Robin downplays the boredom in favor of the adrenalin, and even more compellingly, of the Challenge’s diverse but uniformly eccentric sociological makeup.
    Guy Lodge, Variety, 10 May 2026
Noun
  • Rippling was also built with a stronger emphasis on operational infrastructure and compliance, according to Conrad, who has said that one of the weaknesses at Zenefits was that a lot was done manually behind the scenes.
    Ellen Sheng, CNBC, 19 May 2026
  • Brunson’s defense and the lack of rim protection from Towns remain weaknesses, but nobody has come close to exploiting them so far.
    Tony Jones, New York Times, 18 May 2026
Noun
  • Additional symptoms include lethargy, abdominal pain, vomiting and fever.
    Drew Pittock, USA Today, 10 May 2026
  • Deal lethargy kills that electricity slowly, the way a slow leak flattens a tire.
    George Heller, HollywoodReporter, 6 May 2026
Noun
  • The result can appear not only as exhaustion, but also irritability, decreased concentration, emotional numbing, sleep disruption, and heightened anxiety.
    Maia Niguel Hoskin, Forbes.com, 18 May 2026
  • Korkosz said the challenge is not only violence, but exhaustion.
    Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 17 May 2026
Noun
  • Their apps seem clearly designed, much like TikTok and Candy Crush, to keep users scrolling and tapping in a hypnotic stupor.
    McKay Coppins, The Atlantic, 12 Mar. 2026
  • Patrons — many just as panicked and some in a drunken stupor — ran by her.
    Emiliano Tahui Gómez, Austin American Statesman, 8 Mar. 2026
Noun
  • The lightweight, secure fit helps avoid ear fatigue associated with traditional earbuds, while Bluetooth connectivity makes pairing simple.
    ABC News, ABC News, 16 May 2026
  • Viewer fatigue is less of a factor when stakes are raised down the stretch, though.
    Steven Louis Goldstein, New York Times, 16 May 2026
Noun
  • Europe’s lassitude is heightened by internal divisions.
    HENRY FARRELL, Foreign Affairs, 19 Aug. 2025
  • As something of a companion piece to More, Jacques Deray’s summer thriller La Piscine is a far more dramatic and insidious tale of tropical desire, lassitude, and violence.
    Erik Morse, Vogue, 26 June 2025
Noun
  • His trajectory is one of softening, from the swaggering knight of the opening to the irrepressible lover of the second act to his final physical debility.
    Justin Davidson, Vulture, 11 Mar. 2026
  • In Will There Ever Be Another You, the main character struggles with an illness similar to long COVID, descending into a state of debility and psychosis as readers experience the chaos of her unraveling life.
    Brittney Melton, NPR, 26 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Languor.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/languor. Accessed 21 May. 2026.

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