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   languish

   /ˈlaŋɡwɪʃ/

   verb

   • 1. (of a person, animal, or plant) lose or lack vitality; grow weak: "plants may appear to be languishing simply because they are dormant" Similar weakengrow weakdeterioratedeclinego into a declinewitherdroopflagwiltfadefailwaste awayinformal:go downhillOpposite thriveflourish
   • ▪ fail to make progress or be successful: "Kelso languish near the bottom of the Scottish First Division"
   • ▪ pine with love or grief: archaic "she still languished after Richard" Similar pine foryearn forache forlong forsigh fordesirewanthanker aftercarry a torch forgrieve formournmissliterary:repine
   • ▪ assume a sentimentally tender or melancholy expression or tone: archaic "when a visitor comes in, she smiles and languishes"
   • 2. be forced to remain in an unpleasant place or situation: "he has been languishing in jail since 1974" Similar waste awayrotdecaywither awaymoulderbe abandonedbe neglectedbe forgottensufferbe disregardedexperience hardship

   Word Origin Middle English (in the sense ‘become faint, feeble, or ill’): from Old French languiss-, lengthened stem of languir ‘languish’, from a variant of Latin languere, related to laxus ‘loose, lax’.

   Derivatives

   • 1. languisher noun

   Scrabble Points: 12

   • L

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   • A

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   • N

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   • G

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   • U

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   • I

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   • S

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   • H

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