1
as in sleepy
slow to move or act
a torpid sloth that refused to budge off its tree branch
Synonyms & Similar Words
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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
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of torpid
Even since Thailand’s 2014 coup d’etat that brought Prayuth to power, reform of the police has topped the agenda, yet progress has been torpid.
—
Charlie Campbell, Time, 6 Oct. 2022
The intensity of that airlift — one of the largest in history — stands in sharp contrast to the torpid pace of evacuations after the withdrawal.
—Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 31 Aug. 2022
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
See All Example Sentences for torpid
Charlie Campbell, Time, 6 Oct. 2022
The intensity of that airlift — one of the largest in history — stands in sharp contrast to the torpid pace of evacuations after the withdrawal.
—Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 31 Aug. 2022
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
See All Example Sentences for torpid
Recent Examples of Synonyms for torpid
Adjective
-
While other Caribbean islands can be sleepy (too sleepy, sometimes) at night, the fun is just getting started when the sun sets in Curaçao.—
Condé Nast Traveler,
Condé Nast Traveler,
15 Apr. 2026
-
In theaters Friday after a strong reception at SXSW last month, the genre-scrambling, darkly comic neo-western casts him as Ulysses, a principled small-town sheriff who takes a temporary posting in a sleepy corner of Minnesota called Normal.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
15 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The passengers, including me, sat stoically in the dark, tired and numb.—
Louis Menand,
New Yorker,
13 Apr. 2026
-
However numb fans are to the business of seemingly every level of sport, including third-grade kickball, seeing Schloss in a Texas uniform at Blue Bell Park is not going to go over well.—
Mac Engel
April 8,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
8 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The long layoff between seasons of Euphoria apparently didn’t dull viewers’ enthusiasm for the show.—
Rick Porter,
HollywoodReporter,
16 Apr. 2026
-
Pastas and Grains Similar to powdered laundry detergent, pastas and grains have packaging that's dull, boring, and bulky.—
Ashlyn Needham,
The Spruce,
15 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
When Bill’s older brother Henry (Barry Ward) finds the pianist in numbed solitude in his dingy apartment, Bill has canceled all his upcoming gigs, saying Scotty cannot be replaced.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
13 Feb. 2026
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Ingber also notes the numbed response to these strikes from much of the American public, something that, in part, may come from the routine nature of these drone strikes as something that the nation has become desensitized to dropping bombs on enemies.—
Rebecca Schneid,
Time,
21 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Riley, off to a sluggish start, tacked on his first homer of the season in the sixth by sending one into the left-field seats off John King.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
16 Apr. 2026
-
Over the past several years of steady though sluggish revenue growth, the tone of the committee’s budget release press conference has been fairly celebratory, as House Speaker Ron Mariano and Michlewitz laud the spending initiatives in the bill.—
State House News Service,
Boston Herald,
15 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
So this is the ideal side gig for early birds who are happy to get their work done while the rest of the world is sound asleep.—
Kathy Kristof,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
13 Apr. 2026
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Upon arrival, officers found the driver still asleep inside the vehicle.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
12 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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According to the Martin County report, Deputy Tatiana Levenar observed Woods to be sweating profusely, lethargic and slow.—
Don Riddell,
CNN Money,
9 Apr. 2026
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The commercial drive was boosted by a wave of immigrants, including many Jews, from Russia and other parts of the Hapsburg Empire, who were welcomed to the city in the mid 19th century to jump-start a lethargic economy.—
Joshua Levine,
Travel + Leisure,
7 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Local Democratic politicians were strangely quiescent, despite a pre–Catahoula Crunch poll showing that nearly 80 percent of New Orleans residents opposed the deployment.—
Daniel Brook,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Mar. 2026
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But the astronomers suspect this kind of bursty young galaxy in the early universe may someday evolve into what's known as a massive quiescent galaxy in the modern-day cosmos.—
Paul Sutter,
Space.com,
21 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Torpid.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/torpid. Accessed 20 Apr. 2026.
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