Languid
adjective
- Having or displaying an unhurried or spiritless nature or movement
- Referring to someone or something that looks or acts leisurely
Usage
Languid is used to describe someone or something that is characterized by sluggish expression or movement. People who are languid often seem to be lazy, at least to onlookers, acting as if the smallest activity requires an incalculable amount of energy. A student who despises math class might pick up his pencil in a languid manner. Sometimes, a languid quality can be assumed by one who is incredibly fatigued. For example, a teacher may look languid because she had not slept the night before. Inanimate objects can also seem languid when they look as if they are functioning slowly or their movements feel as if they require much effort. For instance, an old, languid pencil sharpener might take longer than normal to do its job.
Although languid is usually associated with a negative connotation of apathy or tiredness, the adjective can sometimes refer to something relaxing and quite pleasant. While a monotonous reading might be considered languid in the former sense, this second connotation refers to something that is delightfully peaceful. For example, the poet Walt Whitman could have been seen to be meditating on the carefree, languid summer days of his youth as he wrote Leaves of Grass. Hence, the idleness associated with this word can just as easily refer to a tranquil setting. The gentle, languid swaying of playground swings after they had been abandoned by children would be another example.
Example: The languid way in which the girl arose from her seat was almost irritating.
Example: Feeling prepared and confident, John's stroll to the front of the class was quite languid.
Derivative Words
Languidly- This adverb describes someone or something that acts in way that is feeble, slothful, or unenthusiastic.
Example: Bradley languidly threw the baseball to his teammate, allowing the opposing runner to steal a base.
Languidness- This noun refers to the quality of laziness, idleness, or inactivity.
Example: The languidness of study hall period caused half the class to doze off.
Origin
Historically, the earliest ancestors of languid were thought to be the late 16th century French word languide and the Latin languidus, meaning "faint" or "listless." However, recent studies have found that these two words actually originated from a pre-Latin or Proto-Indo European root meaning, "to be slack." Languid's source is related to that of languish (to weaken or suffer), stemming from the same unconjugated Latin verb as languere. Since the meaning has not changed a considerable amount over the years, we can see languid first used as early as the 1590s.
In Literature
From Ivan Turgenev's : A House of Gentlefolk:
Lavretsky made the tour of all the rooms, and to the great discomfiture of the aged languid flies, settled under the lintels and covered with white dust, he ordered the windows to be opened everywhere; they had not been opened ever since the death of Glafira Petrovna.
In this quote, Lavretsky is exploring the old, decrepit residence of his late aunt, Glafira. Moving around in the stillness of one of the rooms, he disturbs flies that have been comfortably resting for a while.
Mnemonic
- Languid steps cause anguish.
- Slow fluid streams are languid.
Bring out the linguist in you! What is your own interpretation of languid. Did you use languid in a game? Provide an example sentence or a literary quote.