1
as in sleepy
slow to move or act
a torpid sloth that refused to budge off its tree branch
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in numb
lacking in sensation or feeling
my tongue and throat remained torpid for a time following the endoscopy
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of torpid
This lowers the body temperature so much that a torpid hummingbird maintains a hypothermic threshold that nears death.
—
Janaya Wecker, Good Housekeeping, 10 Aug. 2022
Inside, though, Ingrid is in a state of torpid discontent, unhappy with her circumstances but unsure of how to change them.
—Sarah Chihaya, The New York Review of Books, 25 May 2022
The water was so torpid that a thick layer of dust had settled onto it, giving it a cheerless brown tinge.
—Washington Post, 9 Mar. 2022
The ongoing slog has come to symbolize the dilemma multinationals face when confronting Germany’s notoriously torpid bureaucracy.
—Christiaan Hetzner, Fortune, 28 Feb. 2022
See All Example Sentences for torpid
Janaya Wecker, Good Housekeeping, 10 Aug. 2022
Inside, though, Ingrid is in a state of torpid discontent, unhappy with her circumstances but unsure of how to change them.
—Sarah Chihaya, The New York Review of Books, 25 May 2022
The water was so torpid that a thick layer of dust had settled onto it, giving it a cheerless brown tinge.
—Washington Post, 9 Mar. 2022
The ongoing slog has come to symbolize the dilemma multinationals face when confronting Germany’s notoriously torpid bureaucracy.
—Christiaan Hetzner, Fortune, 28 Feb. 2022
See All Example Sentences for torpid
Recent Examples of Synonyms for torpid
Adjective
-
After dropping a sleepy rubber match to the Chicago White Sox on Sunday, the Tigers have lost nine of their past 13 games.—
Cody Stavenhagen,
New York Times,
8 Sep. 2025
-
In recent years, the government even started paying people to move to its sleepy medieval villages.—
Siobhan Reid,
Robb Report,
7 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Americans have just grown numb to the disconnect.—
Philip Elliott,
Time,
2 Sep. 2025
-
Her hands would burn or go numb; her skin glittered with pain.—
Alexandra Schwartz,
New Yorker,
25 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
Horror of this scale has the effect of deadening words, making stories of the most unimaginable violence land with a dull thud.—
Jack Sheehan
September 4,
Literary Hub,
4 Sep. 2025
-
The water wasn’t quite as hot as the Braun, and the coffee was just a hair duller in taste.—
Noah Kaufman,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
4 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Despite a sluggish offensive start, leaky coverage in the secondary and a failure to consistently pressure Justin Herbert, the Chiefs had a chance to steal the game from the Chargers in Brazil on Friday night.—
Pete Sweeney,
Kansas City Star,
6 Sep. 2025
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But progress remains sluggish overall, especially in major markets like Japan and Hong Kong.—
Clifford Coonan,
Variety,
4 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
The strategies ahead are designed to help reduce nighttime discomfort and create conditions that make falling asleep, and staying asleep, more achievable.—
Lauryn Higgins,
Flow Space,
25 Aug. 2025
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An Oklahoma deputy and his family were asleep inside their home when a man set the house on fire, destroying it, officials say.—
Mitchell Willetts,
Kansas City Star,
24 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Trailing after two lethargic quarters, the Chiefs gained life when Chargers rookie Omarion Hampton mistakenly ran out of bounds, giving Kansas City one last possession before the end of the half.—
Pete Sweeney,
Kansas City Star,
6 Sep. 2025
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Pets with salmonella or listeria infections may be lethargic and have diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, fever, vomiting, decreased appetite, fever, and abdominal pain.—
Matt Cannon,
MSNBC Newsweek,
26 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
Throughout most of modern history, it was thought that prudent government debt management involved bringing down the ratio of debt to GDP during quiescent periods of growth in order to store fiscal ammunition for the next crisis.—
Kenneth S. Rogoff,
Foreign Affairs,
19 Aug. 2025
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Khanna is one of a number of progressive congressional Democrats encouraged by the party to appear in red-district town halls in an attempt to rebut impressions that the party is quiescent in the face of Trump’s onslaught.—
Andrew Cockburn,
Harpers Magazine,
16 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Torpid.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/torpid. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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