litany

American  

[lit-n-ee] / ˈlɪt n i /

noun

• litanies
  plural

1. a ceremonial or liturgical form of prayer consisting of a series of invocations or supplications with responses that are the same for a number in succession.

2. the Litany, the supplication in this form in the Book of Common Prayer.

3. a recitation or recital that resembles a litany.

4. a prolonged or tedious account.

   We heard the whole litany of their complaints.

   Synonyms:

   enumeration, catalog, list

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litany British  

/ ˈlɪtənɪ /

noun

1. Christianity

   1. a form of prayer consisting of a series of invocations, each followed by an unvarying response

   2. the general supplication in this form included in the Book of Common Prayer

2. any long or tedious speech or recital

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litany Cultural  

1. In many religions, a ritual repetition of prayers. Usually a clergyman or singer chants a prayer, and the congregation makes a response, such as “Lord, have mercy.”

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• litanies
  plural

Etymology

Origin of litany

before 900; < Late Latin litanīa < Late Greek litaneía litany, Greek: an entreating, equivalent to litan- (stem of litaínein, variant of litaneúein to pray) + -eia -y ³; replacing Middle English letanie, Old English letanīa < Medieval Latin, Late Latin, as above

Explanation

A litany is a long, repetitive list or series of grievances, like your picky brother's litany of complaints about dinner or the litany of critical comments your English teacher writes in the margins of your essay. The original meaning of litany is a purely religious one. During some Christian services, a member of the clergy recites a litany, a lengthy call-and-response type of prayer. The word's Greek root means "entreaty," and in this religious context, that's an entreaty to God. Its more popular, secular meaning tends to be used in a negative way, as in your grandpa's litany of aches and pains or the litany of complaints from passengers on a stalled subway car.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

litany litanies

Regulation that becomes a box-checking litany can cause companies to relax safeguards if they think it protects them from liability.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026

The spectators who stuck around, including Josh Levin, were “treated to a litany of scenes you don’t typically see at a Grand Slam tennis match.”

From Slate ● Sep. 9, 2026

She had suffered a "substantial" miscarriage of justice, they said, alleging a litany of irregularities and the misuse of evidence during the trial.

From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026

The situation in Colombia is all-hands-on-deck and a litany of organizations worldwide are rallying together to get aid to earthquake victims.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026

I spat a litany of things I’ll never repeat for the rest of my life, and he cowered and stared down into the dirt.

From "Tradition" by Brendan Kiely

The advanced age of many gangsters often becomes a factor at sentencing hearings, when bids for leniency tend to rely heavily on litanies of medications, impairments, illnesses and other ravages of time.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 10, 2023

Because these kinds of litanies are not rare, I get why actor, writer, and producer Issa Rae, the woman behind "Insecure" and "Rap Sh!t," is over it.

From Salon ● Jun. 7, 2023

Some litanies were designed to be prayed while processing, or walking around, said Bishop Jeffrey Lee, the interim bishop of Milwaukee and a member of the group.

From Washington Post ● Jul. 16, 2021

Writers have lots of dinners with other writers, and the best conversations are when we share litanies of humiliating moments in our careers, or the single worst things we’ve written.

From New York Times ● Apr. 22, 2021

Whether there was any truth to Boori Ma’s litanies no one could be sure.

From "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri

Related Words

• catalogue
• recitation
• repetition