languish
pronunciation
How to pronounce languish in British English:
UK [ˈlæŋɡwɪʃ]
How to pronounce languish in American English:
US [ˈlæŋɡwɪʃ]
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- Verb:
- lose vigor, health, or flesh, as through grief
- have a desire for something or someone who is not present
- become feeble
Word Origin
- languish
- languish: see relish
- languish (v.)
- early 14c., "fail in strength, exhibit signs of approaching death," from languiss-, present participle stem of Old French languir "be listless, pine, grieve, fall ill," from Vulgar Latin *languire, from Latin languere "be weak or faint" (see lax). Weaker sense "be lovesick, grieve, lament, grow faint," is from mid-14c. Related: Languished; languishing.
Example
- 1. Why do you always let me languish .
- 2. But there 's something more fundamentally wrong in our political and economic system that permits them to do so while the vast majority of people languish in poverty , or are barely keeping their heads above water after paying their taxes , their student debts , their rent and basic necessities .
- 3. Legislation that continued to languish in committee .
- 4. The children soon began to languish in the heat .
- 5. The film continued to languish unseen .