languish
Americanverb (used without object)
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to be or become weak or feeble; droop; fade.
Whether the plant thrives or languishes and dies is heavily dependent on the climate.
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to lose vigor and vitality.
Though she was once full of energy, her illness had caused her to languish.
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to undergo neglect or experience prolonged inactivity; suffer hardship and distress.
to languish in prison for ten years.
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to be subjected to delay or disregard; be ignored.
a petition that languished on the warden's desk for a year.
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to pine with desire or longing.
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to assume an expression of tender, sentimental melancholy.
noun
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Archaic. the act or state of being neglected, losing vigor, or becoming weak.
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Archaic. a tender, melancholy look or expression.
verb
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to lose or diminish in strength or energy
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(often foll by for) to be listless with desire; pine
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to suffer deprivation, hardship, or neglect
to languish in prison
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to put on a tender, nostalgic, or melancholic expression
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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languishsimple
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languishessimple
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have languishedperfect
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has languishedperfect
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am languishingprogressive
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are languishingprogressive
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is languishingprogressive
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have been languishingperfect progressive
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has been languishingperfect progressive
Past
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languishedsimple
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had languishedperfect
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was languishingprogressive
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were languishingprogressive
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had been languishingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of languish
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Middle French languiss-, long stem of languir, from Latin languēre “to languish”; akin to laxus lax; see -ish 2
Explanation
To languish is to become pitiful or weak because you're sick, in love, or stuck somewhere. A prisoner might languish in jail, longing for her freedom. Languish, like languid, is from the Latin word languere which means "to be weak or faint." Your houseplants might languish in a dark dry corner. A Romantic poet might languish on a velvet couch with the back of her hand to her forehead. People in operas love to languish: The main character in La Traviata, Violetta, languishes from longing and eventually tuberculosis.
Vocabulary lists containing languish
"Letter from Birmingham Jail" by Martin Luther King, Jr. (1963)
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Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" Speech (1963)
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Refugee
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Burke was only arrested three months ago, and murder cases often languish in L.A.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
Places like Wigan - in Greater Manchester, Burnham's stronghold - often languish next to the bigger cities in whose shadow they sit.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
If you are withholding too much money, it makes sense to reduce that amount so you put that money in your back pocket in lieu of having it languish in IRS coffers.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 8, 2026
Those of us who languish in the academic wasteland are too tardy to lament, so little has changed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
That was why she had let him languish here, ignoring the urgent commands he had sent her.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
Official readouts and state media reports have not said whether Xi and Kim discussed North Korea's nuclear weapons development, for which Pyongyang languishes under international sanctions.
From Barron's ● Jun. 9, 2026
Tortora, meanwhile, languishes in squalid jail cells and a country with only a casual regard for habeas corpus.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 19, 2026
Jenner is likely taking a significant financial hit on the property as it languishes on the market.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 17, 2026
Before that there is this week's attempt to make up ground on the DP World Tour's Race to Dubai where the largely US-based Fleetwood languishes in 94th place.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2025
Poor, dear young gentleman, see how he languishes!
From Our Admirable Betty A Romance by Farnol, Jeffery
And yet, oil has languished below $100 a barrel for over three weeks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 13, 2026
The ETF then languished in correction territory — it never rose more than 10% off that Nov. 20 low — until it made a new low in early February.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 10, 2026
Former state controller Betty Yee — who languished at the bottom of the polls — held on for a few more weeks before calling it quits.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 2026
At the time of the bid, Ackman promised to turn around Universal's share price, which he said had "languished" due to financial issues not related to the performance of its music business.
From BBC ● May 29, 2026
The Council of Elders languished in prison, and new council members were elected by popular vote.
From "The Girl Who Drank the Moon" by Kelly Barnhill
IBM stock has been languishing since July 14, when it pre-announced disappointing earnings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
Kent debuted on the Baseball Writers’ Assn. of America Hall of Fame ballot five years later, languishing there for 10 consecutive seasons without coming close to the 75% threshold necessary to be elected.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026
After languishing in development hell under Stanley Kubrick for two decades, the notoriously intense auteur deferred the project to Spielberg, believing he would be the right fit to tell such a complex yet tender story.
From Salon ● Jun. 28, 2026
Meanwhile, Alec and Hilaria Baldwin’s Amagansett compound has been languishing on the market since 2022, when they listed it for $29 million.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 3, 2026
There are insect carcasses everywhere, squashed against the windowpanes and walls, languishing in pools of water behind the taps of the sink.
From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
