languish

[lang-gwish] /ˈlæŋ gwɪʃ/
verb (used without object)
1.
to be or become weak or feeble; droop; fade.
2.
to lose vigor and vitality.
3.
to undergo neglect or experience prolonged inactivity; suffer hardship and distress:
to languish in prison for ten years.
4.
to be subjected to delay or disregard; be ignored:
a petition that languished on the warden's desk for a year.
5.
to pine with desire or longing.
6.
to assume an expression of tender, sentimental melancholy.
noun
7.
the act or state of languishing.
8.
a tender, melancholy look or expression.
Origin
1250-1300; Middle English < Middle French languiss-, long stem of languir ≪ Latin languēre to languish; akin to laxus lax; see -ish2
Related forms
languisher, noun
Examples from the web for languish
  • There will be pockets of success, but the vast majority on this planet are going to languish in misery and deprivation.
  • But these and other agreements languish as mutual distrust continues.
  • The best teachers are not valued and tend to either leave voluntarily or they languish in the adjunct system.
  • They languish, because none feel with them their common nature.
  • And for every month that they languish, their job prospects decrease.
  • Many others likely languish in jail due to similarly mistaken beliefs about the accuracy of memory.
  • It's better to get the bad news and start doing something about it rather than languish in limbo.
  • Housing starts continue to languish at around a third of normal levels.
  • Parallel-programming languages in particular tend to languish in academic obscurity.
  • Such sound processors will then be replaced by icon pods where by a sign languish is used for communication.
British Dictionary definitions for languish

languish

/ˈlæŋɡwɪʃ/
verb (intransitive)
1.
to lose or diminish in strength or energy
2.
(often foll by for) to be listless with desire; pine
3.
to suffer deprivation, hardship, or neglect: to languish in prison
4.
to put on a tender, nostalgic, or melancholic expression
Derived Forms
languishing, adjective
languishingly, adverb
languishment, noun
Word Origin
C14 languishen, from Old French languiss-, stem of languir, ultimately from Latin languēre
Word Origin and History for languish
v.

early 14c., "fail in strength, exhibit signs of approaching death," from languiss-, present participle stem of Old French languir "be listless, pine, grieve, fall ill," from Vulgar Latin *languire, from Latin languere "be weak or faint" (see lax). Weaker sense "be lovesick, grieve, lament, grow faint," is from mid-14c. Related: Languished; languishing.