as in listless
lacking bodily energy or motivation
his lingering sickness left him languishing and uninterested in his usual activities
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in failing
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
as in fading
to lose bodily strength or vigor
older people, especially, were languishing during the prolonged heat wave
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Recent Examples of languishing
Jared Kaufman, Twin Cities, 11 Jan. 2026
Priyanka Salve, CNBC, 2 Apr. 2026
There are languishing eight-figure listings and embarrassing price cuts.
—Matthew Sedacca, Curbed, 31 Mar. 2026
The high-rise, which connects to Salesforce Park via a skybridge, only has a few floors left that are available for leasing — a formidable turnaround given that its entire office component was languishing on the sublease market less than three years ago.
—Laura Waxmann, San Francisco Chronicle, 30 Mar. 2026
Still, even a play-off place is the stuff of dreams for a nation who were languishing in 191st place in the rankings as recently as December 2015.
—Jack Lang, New York Times, 25 Mar. 2026
And a Picasso masterpiece is languishing in a basement in Tehran.
—Angela Cullen, Bloomberg, 20 Mar. 2026
After languishing on the market for nearly three years, Billy Joel has finally managed to offload his longtime New York residence in the Long Island enclave of Centre Island.
—Wendy Bowman, Robb Report, 6 Mar. 2026
This hunch was borne out when the astronomers found that, even though the globular clusters were languishing in an empty stretch of Perseus, they were surrounded by a halo of glowing matter — a telltale sign of a galaxy.
—Frank Landymore, Futurism, 5 Mar. 2026
Hicks urged Democrats languishing at the bottom of the field of candidates to drop out before the Friday deadline to officially file to run for governor — to ensure their names do not appear on the June primary ballot.
—Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times, 3 Mar. 2026
Adjective
The skyway corridors with highest density sit directly atop the most languishing streetscapes, Spencer said, and vice versa.
—Jared Kaufman, Twin Cities, 11 Jan. 2026
Verb
But today, net overseas direct investment into Indian businesses is languishing between $1 billion and $2 billion, according to data shared by Indian ratings and research firm Care Ratings on Tuesday.
—Priyanka Salve, CNBC, 2 Apr. 2026
There are languishing eight-figure listings and embarrassing price cuts.
—Matthew Sedacca, Curbed, 31 Mar. 2026
The high-rise, which connects to Salesforce Park via a skybridge, only has a few floors left that are available for leasing — a formidable turnaround given that its entire office component was languishing on the sublease market less than three years ago.
—Laura Waxmann, San Francisco Chronicle, 30 Mar. 2026
Still, even a play-off place is the stuff of dreams for a nation who were languishing in 191st place in the rankings as recently as December 2015.
—Jack Lang, New York Times, 25 Mar. 2026
And a Picasso masterpiece is languishing in a basement in Tehran.
—Angela Cullen, Bloomberg, 20 Mar. 2026
After languishing on the market for nearly three years, Billy Joel has finally managed to offload his longtime New York residence in the Long Island enclave of Centre Island.
—Wendy Bowman, Robb Report, 6 Mar. 2026
This hunch was borne out when the astronomers found that, even though the globular clusters were languishing in an empty stretch of Perseus, they were surrounded by a halo of glowing matter — a telltale sign of a galaxy.
—Frank Landymore, Futurism, 5 Mar. 2026
Hicks urged Democrats languishing at the bottom of the field of candidates to drop out before the Friday deadline to officially file to run for governor — to ensure their names do not appear on the June primary ballot.
—Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times, 3 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for languishing
Adjective
-
This sense of being listless without Kane is nothing new.—
Jack Pitt-Brooke,
New York Times,
1 Apr. 2026
-
Smith’s swing capped a six-run ninth for the Braves, who were mostly listless offensively until that point.—
Chad Bishop,
AJC.com,
29 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Nicole Tallman’s job as a senior staffer under Miami-Dade County’s mayor puts her on the frontlines of county government’s many failings, mishaps and challenges.—
Douglas Hanks
April 1,
Miami Herald,
1 Apr. 2026
-
Before 1956, addiction to drugs and alcohol were considered failings in morality or personal will.—
CT Jones,
Rolling Stone,
27 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Dylan’s Patreon is neither a brilliant multimedia project or a sign that his skills are fading.—
Christian Zilko,
IndieWire,
6 Apr. 2026
-
But with game preservation increasingly becoming an important aspect in the industry, Defender seems to be a fading memory for older players, as well as an unknown game for younger ones.—
Daryl Baxter,
Space.com,
4 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
For workers who are tired of their jobs following them home every night, and for businesses that are tired of the burnout, the turnover, and the chaos that comes from not having boundaries, Zenzap is the work chat app that changes everything.—
Jason Phillips,
USA Today,
1 Apr. 2026
-
One still gets tired of the Wednesday rice and fish dish.—
Jeremy O. Harris,
Vanity Fair,
1 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Dyer notes that Cox may well have been confused by the mental and physical trauma of the sinking and the deprivations of five days adrift.—
Matthew Wills,
JSTOR Daily,
3 Apr. 2026
-
Speaker Emily Coughlan will recap the dramatic 1912 sinking of the oceanliner and tell stories of survivors who eventually made it to Central Florida.—
Dewayne Bevil,
The Orlando Sentinel,
2 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Anthropic's showdown with the Pentagon this year left OpenAI looking like the bad guy, and just this week Bloomberg reported that demand is weakening for private shares of OpenAI in the secondary market.—
Alexei Oreskovic,
Fortune,
3 Apr. 2026
-
But those safeguards appear to be weakening.—
Jennifer Elias,Jonathan Vanian,
CNBC,
3 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Taylor was discharged after four days, weak and exhausted but out of the woods.—
Dana O’Neil,
CNN Money,
3 Apr. 2026
-
What is exhausted is repetition without thought.—
Manuela Moscoso,
Artforum,
2 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Two of the people with MS, including Miller, have progressive MS, a form of the disease marked by gradual worsening of neurological function and disabilities over time.—
Kaitlin Sullivan,
NBC news,
15 Mar. 2026
-
With America’s loneliness epidemic worsening, there’s a real risk of suicide rates continuing to rise.—
Sam Manzella,
Flow Space,
5 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Languishing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/languishing. Accessed 8 Apr. 2026.
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