How to Use languish in a Sentence

languish

verb
  • The script languished for years, until the run-up to the 2016 election.
    — Bijan Stephen, The Verge, 11 July 2018
  • This is a chamber where bills go to languish and die a slow death.
    — The Politics Of Everything, The New Republic, 6 Apr. 2022
  • The trick is to give them something to climb, or else their vines will languish in a mildewy mess on the ground.
    — Alex Testere, Saveur, 24 July 2024
  • Indeed, agents should languish in the 1950s at their own risk.
    — Kara Baskin, BostonGlobe.com, 10 Apr. 2022
  • Statham fell off and in 2019 Bautista first came aboard before the project once again languished.
    — Borys Kit, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 May 2023
  • Add a shower of bright herbs to liven up beans that have languished in a can in the back of your pantry.
    — Aliza Abarbanel, Bon Appétit, 6 Apr. 2020
  • Will the out-of-the-boxy Glass House thinking put some spark in Ford's languishing stock price?
    — Susan Tompor, Detroit Free Press, 15 June 2018
  • But by the 1980s French Fumé began to languish as Sancerre started to soar.
    — Lettie Teague, WSJ, 29 July 2021
  • The deal languished at the end of Cooper's term and never advanced to the Metro Council.
    — Nate Rau, Axios, 7 Mar. 2025
  • The plan, which would have cost as much as $100 million, has languished amid the state’s fiscal woes.
    — Kenneth R. Gosselin, courant.com, 7 June 2018
  • The vote marked a pivotal moment for the bill, which has languished for over a decade in Congress.
    — Berkeley Lovelace Jr., NBC News, 27 June 2024
  • Watch her return to her small-town Rust Belt home and languish in the big vibes and wistful mood.
    — Julie Muncy, Wired, 25 Nov. 2020
  • Thirty-three of those projects have languished on the state’s funding list for more than a decade.
    — Emily Schwing, ProPublica, 4 Mar. 2025
  • Thirty-three of those projects have languished on the state's funding list for more than a decade.
    — Emily Schwing, NPR, 4 Mar. 2025
  • Today millions of refugees languish in refugee camps around the world.
    — Sabeeha Rehman and Walter Ruby, WSJ, 22 Apr. 2021
  • Householder let the bill languish for more than a year.
    — Jeremy Pelzer, cleveland, 9 Sep. 2020
  • But what about the long lines people languished in at customs?
    — Natalie B. Compton, chicagotribune.com, 19 July 2019
  • The market has long been seen as ripe for growth but plans to upgrade the market have languished.
    — Kenneth R. Gosselin, courant.com, 7 June 2018
  • Despite the Supreme Court's ruling, the case has appeared to languish.
    — Faris Tanyos, CBS News, 17 Apr. 2025
  • At the time, the old mule barns had languished in disrepair for decades, and the empty street was used for parking.
    — Kate Marijolovic, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 3 July 2024
  • Soon Wyse was able to zip up a Marc Jacobs dress that had languished in her closet for months.
    — Tatiana Boncompagni, Harper's BAZAAR, 21 May 2019
  • That’s why a team that seems to be languishing in the middle of the standings is back in the top 10 of our Power Rankings.
    — Levi Weaver, New York Times, 20 May 2025
  • And at the same time, compassion isn't just letting (the homeless) stay there and languish.
    — Barnini Chakraborty, Washington Examiner, 15 Apr. 2021
  • The film has languished in development hell ever since Kevin Smith took a stab at the script in 1995.
    — Darren Orf, Popular Mechanics, 4 Dec. 2019
  • So instead of guessing how long your catch has been languishing on a bed of ice, look to the freezer case.
    — Amanda Shapiro, Bon Appétit, 8 Aug. 2023
  • Consumer sentiment has languished in the wake of Trump’s trade war.
    — Tobias Burns, The Hill, 18 June 2025
  • But the process often doesn’t work that way, and species can sometimes languish on the backburner for years—or decades.
    — National Geographic, 22 Apr. 2019
  • The company’s stock has languished mostly under $10 a share for the past two years.
    — Lorraine Mirabella, Baltimore Sun, 6 Aug. 2024
  • The case languished for several years until the Supreme Court in 2022 overturned Roe v. Wade.
    — Melissa Quinn july 3, CBS News, 3 July 2025
  • As of late April, nearly 900 claims had been pending for more than one year, more than triple the number from five years ago, with a small number languishing for a decade.
    — Ryan J. Foley, Los Angeles Times, 24 June 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'languish.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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