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
Example Sentences
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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
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Carbon monoxide can also cause the victim to become sleepy, lose consciousness, or lose muscle function as the dangerous gas stops oxygen flow to the brain, heart, and other important cells and organs.—
Amelia McBride,
Travel + Leisure,
12 Apr. 2025
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This sleepy port town, penned in by snowy mountains on one side and endless freezing sea on the other, could have been where Spurs’ European dream died.—
Jack Pitt-Brooke,
New York Times,
9 May 2025
Adjective
-
Pay no heed to the aches in your body, the growing fear that your numb fingers and toes may never be able to feel sensations again: look up and thank the man with your gaze.—
Hazlitt,
Hazlitt,
13 May 2025
-
An example is lidocaine, used to numb pain during medical procedures.—
Rebecca Robbins,
New York Times,
4 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
The actors’ shared genetics help Kurt convincingly play the older Wyatt, and their natural charisma helps make even the dullest scenes eminently watchable.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
8 May 2025
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The light turned from orange to dull gray, and then Joe nudged my aching ribs — the tiger was standing in a glade 60 yards downhill.—
Cyril E. Holland,
Outdoor Life,
8 May 2025
Adjective
-
The Maple Leafs have a 12-8 edge in shots on goal, but the Panthers looked considerably better down the stretch after a sluggish opening six minutes.—
Jordan McPherson,
Miami Herald,
10 May 2025
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A little over five minutes later, the Leafs again pounced on a sluggish Panthers side when John Tavares stuffed a wraparound goal past Bobrovsky.—
Joshua Kloke,
New York Times,
10 May 2025
Adjective
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When the children are asleep, Charlotte and Raffi can grab the baby monitor and hop the balcony wall to their friends’ house.—
Rhaina Cohen,
The Atlantic,
11 May 2025
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One of them is asleep, actually, or maybe dead already?—
Allegra Leal,
New Yorker,
9 May 2025
Adjective
-
Pets may appear lethargic, exhibit loss of appetite, vomit or have diarrhea.—
David Faris,
MSNBC Newsweek,
11 Apr. 2025
-
Chelsea’s income from Stamford Bridge has been particularly lethargic.—
Chris Weatherspoon,
New York Times,
21 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Just an hour south of the gaseous maelstrom otherwise known as the City of Angels lurks a quiescent hideaway called Terranea Resort, set like a rare gemstone on 102 acres of Palos Verdes Peninsula oceanfront.—
David Weiss,
Forbes.com,
29 Apr. 2025
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Russia, for its part, went from being both weak and quiescent in the early 1990s to being a revanchist power, a spoiler with enough capability and cunning to be disruptive.—
Fareed Zakaria,
Foreign Affairs,
11 June 2019
Cite this Entry
“Torpid.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/torpid. Accessed 22 May. 2025.
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