languid
- Displaying or having a disinclination for physical exertion or effort; slow and relaxed to the point of seeming weak or indifferent.
- Lacking vigor or vitality, as in a scene or atmosphere that feels heavy and still.
In a sentence
- She spent the hot afternoon in languid repose, too enervated to do anything but fan herself.
- The river moved in a languid, unhurried way through the summer meadows.
Usage note. Languid can be neutral or even positive (evoking relaxed elegance) rather than always negative; context determines whether it suggests weakness or graceful ease.
Where it comes from
English languid · entered English late 16th c.
From Latin 'languidus,' meaning 'faint, weak, listless,' derived from 'languere,' meaning 'to be faint or weary.' It entered English in the late 16th century via the same Latin root that also gives us 'languish' and 'languor.'