Definition of lassitudenext

Synonym Chooser

How does the noun lassitude contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of lassitude are languor, lethargy, stupor, and torpor. While all these words mean "physical or mental inertness," lassitude stresses listlessness or indifference resulting from fatigue or poor health.

a depression marked by lassitude

Where would languor be a reasonable alternative to lassitude?

Although the words languor and lassitude have much in common, languor suggests inertia induced by an enervating climate or illness or love.

languor induced by a tropical vacation

When could lethargy be used to replace lassitude?

The words lethargy and lassitude can be used in similar contexts, but lethargy implies such drowsiness or aversion to activity as is induced by disease, injury, or drugs.

months of lethargy followed my accident

When might stupor be a better fit than lassitude?

While the synonyms stupor and lassitude are close in meaning, stupor implies a deadening of the mind and senses by shock, narcotics, or intoxicants.

lapsed into an alcoholic stupor

When would torpor be a good substitute for lassitude?

In some situations, the words torpor and lassitude are roughly equivalent. However, 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 lassitude Stranger by the Lake is a bookend of sorts to La Piscine, as both films seem to condemn their characters, and by extension, the counterculture surrounding them, to a lassitude incapable of any moral authority. Erik Morse, Vogue, 26 June 2025 The result of this lassitude is that cars still rule the streets. Justin Davidson, Curbed, 18 Apr. 2025 Wakefield-Scurr’s discoveries have helped rupture the long-standing lassitude. Megan Feringa, New York Times, 27 Mar. 2025 After so many episodes, there is no lassitude and the Mbappé saga continues to enliven conversations in France’s sports bars. Samuel Petrequin, USA TODAY, 12 Feb. 2024 See All Example Sentences for lassitude
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lassitude
Noun
  • Competing demands — for example, from illness, injury, or chronic stress — can appear not only as poor health, but also as negative conscious experiences such as anxiety, brain fog, and exhaustion.
    Rachel Nuwer, Quanta Magazine, 17 July 2026
  • Barrett said the goal is for the justices to have as large a security detail as those dedicated to Cabinet members, in part to avoid burnout and exhaustion among the four to eight officers typically assigned to each justice.
    Maureen Groppe, USA Today, 14 July 2026
Noun
  • Rich might have been afraid of putting too much explanatory weight on a writer’s existential boredom (or horniness).
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 16 July 2026
  • The discomfort of boredom often becomes the spark for curiosity, creativity, independence and discovering lifelong interests.
    Chicago Tribune, Twin Cities, 16 July 2026
Noun
  • If testosterone levels are too low, at any age, this can lead to muscle and bone weakness, fatigue, and decline in libido.
    Nina Shapiro, Forbes.com, 18 July 2026
  • Warning signs worth flagging to a doctor include loud snoring, gasping for air during sleep, severe daytime fatigue, persistent low mood, rapid heart rate and unexplained weight changes.
    Hanna Wickes, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 17 July 2026
Noun
  • Anaplasmosis symptoms can be similar to those of Lyme disease, including fever, headache, fatigue, lethargy, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
    Amanda Roome, The Conversation, 16 July 2026
  • More severe signs of heat stroke include lethargy, weakness, the loss of the ability to stand, confusion, loss of coordination, vomiting and diarrhea.
    Tanya Edwards, USA Today, 30 June 2026
Noun
  • The 14-month-old was diagnosed with alcohol intoxication with complications and stupor, as well as acute respiratory failure, according to The Advocate and WBRZ.
    Bailey Richards, PEOPLE, 4 July 2026
  • But Supergirl doesn’t quite want to deal with the immensity of its protagonist’s feelings; her drunken stupor is often played for laughs, defined by disheveled hair, big sunglasses, and plenty of slurred speech.
    David Sims, The Atlantic, 26 June 2026
Noun
  • Both for the islanders and for us, the summer shimmers with a hallucinatory mixture of languor and emotional speed, as summers do in childhood.
    Lillian Fishman, New Yorker, 27 June 2026
  • Breaking Bad took place in the languor of suburbia and Better Call Saul in the corrupt organs of the legal system, but Vince Gilligan’s latest show Pluribus makes a home out of the stranger substrate of speculative sci-fi.
    Kat Chen, Condé Nast Traveler, 29 Jan. 2026

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Lassitude.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lassitude. Accessed 20 Jul. 2026.

More from Merriam-Webster on lassitude

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster