lassitude

[ las-i-tood, -tyood ]

noun

1. weariness of body or mind from strain, oppressive climate, etc.; lack of energy; listlessness; languor:

   It was yet another day of extreme heat and lassitude.

2. a condition of lazy indifference:

   Democracy is hard work, and demands that citizens not drift into lassitude.

lassitude

/ ˈlæsɪˌtjuːd /

noun

1. physical or mental weariness

Word History and Origins

Origin of lassitude¹

First recorded in 1525–35; from Latin lassitūdō “weariness,” equivalent to lass(us) “weary” + -i- connecting vowel + -tūdō noun suffix; -i-, -tude

Word History and Origins

Origin of lassitude¹

C16: from Latin lassitūdō, from lassus tired

Example Sentences

There were moments during my screening at which I thought I was attending an exorcism; the movie makes you feel thrown by the power of cinema to shake us out of our lassitude.

From Los Angeles Times

In a 1936 speech to young people, President Franklin Roosevelt, dismissing experts proclaiming 1930s youth as “lost” to anxiety, depression and lassitude, declared that young people were right to be unhappy.

From Salon

She taught at several schools, including Stanford University and Yale University, and regarded her experiences in the classroom not as a distraction from her poetry, but as a “prescription for lassitude.”

From Seattle Times

Not that they were hunted or killed, but many left the clinic from fear, and Farmer noted the “paralysis” and “lassitude” among those who stayed behind.

From Literature

Some historians speculated that the 19th century’s fin de siècle might actually have been lassitude caused by sequelae of the Russian flu.

From New York Times