Synonym Chooser

How does the noun languor contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of languor are lassitude, lethargy, stupor, and torpor. While all these words mean "physical or mental inertness," languor suggests inertia induced by an enervating climate or illness or love.

languor induced by a tropical vacation

When is it sensible to use lassitude instead of languor?

While the synonyms lassitude and languor are close in meaning, lassitude stresses listlessness or indifference resulting from fatigue or poor health.

a depression marked by lassitude

When can lethargy be used instead of languor?

The meanings of lethargy and languor largely overlap; however, lethargy implies such drowsiness or aversion to activity as is induced by disease, injury, or drugs.

months of lethargy followed my accident

When could stupor be used to replace languor?

The synonyms stupor and languor are sometimes interchangeable, but stupor implies a deadening of the mind and senses by shock, narcotics, or intoxicants.

lapsed into an alcoholic stupor

When might torpor be a better fit than languor?

While in some cases nearly identical to languor, torpor implies a state of suspended animation as of hibernating animals but may suggest merely extreme sluggishness.

a once alert mind now in a torpor

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of languor The French Vietnamese director, Tran Anh Hung, is contemporary cinema’s great poet of languor. Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 9 Feb. 2024 There are two excellent reasons to savor the series, in all of its languor. Judy Berman, TIME, 4 Apr. 2024 The characters emote with the rich, sticky languor of a lava lamp, and none come to life with the force of those in the works to which Catán nods. Zachary Woolfe, New York Times, 17 Nov. 2023 Everyone was ready to shake off the languor of the hot afternoon and welcome in the shade of night. Jacqui Gifford, Travel + Leisure, 16 Nov. 2023 See all Example Sentences for languor 
Recent Examples of Synonyms for languor
Noun
  • When deprived of exercise, a varied environment, and the social opportunities that the wild provides, elephants suffer from chronic frustration, boredom, and stress, resulting over time in physical disabilities, psychological disorders, and, often, brain damage.
    TJ Hutchinson, The Denver Post, 28 Jan. 2025
  • Despite being one of the most popular smartphone makers in the world, much of the internet responded to the Samsung Galaxy S25 range with feelings somewhere between boredom and unhappiness.
    Callum Booth, Forbes, 23 Jan. 2025
Noun
  • Symptoms include fatigue, difficulty with balance, neuropathic pain, and muscle weakness.
    Cindy Krischer Goodman, Sun Sentinel, 28 Jan. 2025
  • Those gels in your belt, shorts, or bra pocket aren’t a sign of weakness.
    Cindy Kuzma, SELF, 28 Jan. 2025
Noun
  • Bailey recommends that people watch out for signs of lethargy, runny nose, or discharge around the eyes.
    Sarah Boden, NPR, 22 Jan. 2025
  • But to many, there appears to be a lethargy that is out of place with the club’s precarious predicament.
    Rob Tanner, The Athletic, 19 Jan. 2025
Noun
  • This breeds feelings of frustration and emotional exhaustion.
    Mark Travers, Forbes, 25 Jan. 2025
  • However, exhaustion from the long-haul flight prompted him to explore an alternative: an Uber.
    John Yoo and John Shu, Newsweek, 23 Jan. 2025
Noun
  • Symptoms of severe illness include high fever, severe headache, neck stiffness, disorientation, stupor, tremors, seizures, paralysis, or coma.
    Marley Malenfant, Austin American-Statesman, 4 Sep. 2024
  • First, there was the chest-down, sort of squaring-up motion that drunkards do to bouncers, to be followed by a strike which could not even be conceived of in drunken stupors.
    Simon Johnson, The Athletic, 30 June 2024
Noun
  • Investigators found that pilot fatigue during icing conditions contributed to the accident.
    Matt Leclercq, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 30 Jan. 2025
  • That number could be hard to match as KC fatigue builds, but Kansas City did just set the AFC title game viewership high mark at 57.4 million on Sunday.
    Jacob Feldman, Sportico.com, 30 Jan. 2025
Noun
  • But neither was there the ho-hum, dutiful lassitude that usually accompanies second inaugurations, like Barack Obama’s in 2013.
    James Poniewozik, New York Times, 21 Jan. 2025
  • But the opinion, written by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., went way further than necessary to insulate Trump from prosecution — not simply before the election, which the court, by its lassitude, had nearly guaranteed, but forever, even in the event that President Biden wins reelection.
    Ruth Marcus, Washington Post, 1 July 2024
Noun
  • The shadow of death and debility haunted American women throughout the nineteenth century.
    Jenny Noyce, JSTOR Daily, 28 June 2024
  • According to this view, the outside world has been generous to Africa, providing substantial aid in recent decades, leaving no excuse for the continent’s debility.
    Howard W. French, Foreign Affairs, 16 June 2015

Thesaurus Entries Near languor

Cite this Entry

“Languor.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/languor. Accessed 2 Feb. 2025.

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