languidn.
/ˈlaŋɡwɪd/, U.S. /ˈlæŋɡwəd/ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > footwear > parts of footwear > [noun] > protective studs or plates > fastenings > lace, thong, or strap
latchetc1440
langueta1500
shoe-latchet1526
shoe-tie1600
shoestring1616
latch1653
tab1674
languid1688
shoe whang1691
shoe-latch1884
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. 14/2 Close Shooes, are such as have no open in the sides of the Latchets or Languides.
2. A flat metal plate attached above the foot of an organ flue pipe, opposite the mouth. Also attributive. Cf. languet n. 2e.
ΚΠ
1852 tr. J. J. Seidel Organ & its Constr. 78 The language [Ger. Kern], just above the foot to which it is soldered on.
1855 E. J. Hopkins Organ 360 The language or languid is the flat plate of metal that lies horizontally over the top of the foot, just inside the mouth.
1855 E. J. Hopkins Organ 375 Languid Wood Pipes are sometimes made.
1876 J. Hiles Catech. Organ (1878) iv. 24 A flat piece of metal called the language, or languid.
1900 Proc. Musical Assoc. 27th Sess. 119 The plug, or languid, as an organ builder would style it,..partially blocks the tube [of the fipple flute].
1942 W. T. Bartholomew Acoustics of Music iii. 125 The many variations in design and dimensions of the lip, the mouth of the pipe, the languid, [etc.]..with which an organ builder secures quality differentiation.
1998 S. Bicknell in N. Thistlethwaite & G. Webber Cambr. Compan. Organ ii. 29 The vast repertoire of voicing techniques includes manipulation of the upper and lower lips, the languid and the foot-hole.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
languidadj.
/ˈlaŋɡwɪd/, U.S. /ˈlæŋɡwəd/ 1.
a. Of a person, animal, bodily function, etc.: weak, faint, or inert, esp. from illness or fatigue; lacking vitality or vigour, listless. Also in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > [adjective] > in state of ill health or diseased > torpid or sluggish
languish1552
languid1595
lethargized1614
languent1696
lymphatic1834
slow1865
1595 B. Barnes Divine Cent. Spirituall Sonnets lxxxxi. sig. G2v Oh whither doth my lamentable soule..Prepare this langued carkase.
1598 A. M. tr. J. Guillemeau Frenche Chirurg. 50 b/2 The natural caliditye being in these partes feeble and languide.
1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια 338 The first births in the beginning of the seauenth moneth are..verie languid and weake.
1684 tr. T. Bonet Guide Pract. Physician vi. 180 A languid, unequal, or formicating Pulse.
1707 J. Floyer Physician's Pulse-watch 33 A languid Pulse depends on languid Spirits.
1744 J. Armstrong Art of preserving Health iii. 84 Happy he whose toil Has o'er his languid powerless limbs diffus'd A pleasing lassitude.
1764 O. Goldsmith Traveller 12 Unknown to them, when sensual pleasures cloy, To fill the languid pause with finer joy.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth VII. 168 [Serpents] Their lungs..are long and large, and doubtless are necessary to promote their languid circulation.
1816 J. Wilson City of Plague ii. ii How pale you look! Wearied, and pale, and languid.
1832 Ld. Tennyson Lotos-eaters i, in Poems (new ed.) 108 All round the coast the languid air did swoon.
1857 M. Gatty Parables 2nd Ser. 144 Languid, indeed, was the voice, and languid were the movements of the Grub.
1876 J. Saunders Lion in Path xi This recent illness had still left him languid.
1902 Westm. Gaz. 13 June 10/2 A sheep affected soon becomes thin and languid, and its painful snuffling has led farmers to call the disease ‘snuff’.
1955 V. Nabokov Lolita II. xii. 79 At first she ‘ran a temperature’..it was a very languid Lolita that moaned and coughed and shivered in my embrace.
1994 Harrowsmith Apr.–May 84/1 Perhaps the place had once been occupied by raving dipsomaniacs and pale, languid invalids of the kind described in Victorian novels.
b. Of a person, or a person's movement, deportment, etc.: exhibiting a natural or affected disinclination to physical exertion; leisurely, unhurried, slow-moving.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > inaction > disinclination to act or listlessness > [adjective] > languid
aswindc885
fade1303
enlangouredc1400
sweyntc1450
wearish1650
languid1727
languorous1753
Mondayish1804
1727 E. Young Universal Passion: Satire V 21 The languid lady next appears in state, Who was not born to carry her own weight.
1777 J. Richardson Dict. Persian, Arabic & Eng. I. 242 An indolent, languid woman, rising slowly upon her feet.
1818 J. Keats Endymion ii. 94 Loth was he to move From the imprinted couch, and when he did, 'Twas with slow, languid paces.
1863 F. A. Kemble Jrnl. Resid. Georgian Plantation 67 They are languid in their deportment.
1900 D. M. Wright N.Z. Chimes No languid beauty she Spreading her soft limbs amid dreaming flowers, But rough and strenuous.
1928 J. Galsworthy Swan Song i. vi, in Mod. Comedy (1929) 554 He used to impress me frightfully—such an awfully good-looking, languid beggar.
1954 N. Coward Something on Tray in B. Day N. Coward: Compl. Lyrics (1998) 290/3 We cosily in bed repose Enjoying, in a rather languid way, A little eggy something on a tray.
2005 Word Feb. 32/2 Where no snaggle-toothed Cockney dictator can take a languid puff on his roll-up..and assure you will never get find it for less than twenty quid.
2.
a. Of a person, a person's character, actions, emotions, etc.: not easily inspired to emotion, exhibiting only faint interest or concern; spiritless, indifferent, apathetic. Frequently in languid eye. Also in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > absence of emotion > [adjective] > lacking emotional sensibility
unfeelingc1000
mis-feelinga1382
stonishc1450
unpainfulc1450
obtuse1509
sprightlessa1522
insensate1553
senseless1560
soulless1568
dull-esprited1591
impassible1592
bluntie1598
impenetrable1600
stockish1600
stolidc1600
incapable1601
stupid1605
tasteless1605
unsensitive1610
unexalted1611
insensible1617
unsensible1619
languid1622
immovable1639
dead-hearted1642
sterile1642
resupine1643
unaffectionate1645
iron-bound1648
resentlessa1649
torpid1656
torpulent1657
impassive1699
unreceptive1722
hebete1743
apathetic1744
stubbed1744
gustless1766
unresponsive1768
unsusceptible1779
tideless-blooded1786
unaffectioned1788
inaccessible1796
hebetudinous1820
unimpressible1828
insensitive1834
apathetical1835
non-sensitive1836
blunt-hearted1845
irreceptive1846
unreceptant1846
unimpressionable1847
anaesthetic1860
insentient1860
hard (also tough, sharp) as nails1862
unsqueamish1893
tone-deaf1894
unget-at-able1897
facty1901
zombie1937
pegamoid1957
the world > action or operation > manner of action > lack of violence, severity, or intensity > [adjective] > weak (of immaterial things)
thin?c1225
wateryc1230
feeble1393
wash1548
waterish1549
fadea1554
limping1577
dilute1605
lank1607
languid1622
water gruel1630
invalid1635
sinewless1644
exsanguine1647
flaccid1647
diluted1681
wishy-washy1693
tiffany1694
foible1715
rickety1738
faintly1771
unrobust1775
pale1820
peely-wally1832
muscleless1841
weakling1848
weedy?1858
feeblose1882
papery1924
1622 S. Ward All in All 18 Some faint and languide wishes, oh that Christ were mine.
1648 J. Beaumont Psyche xv. clxxix. 287 With secret Checks her languid Soule she chid Which with such violence never yet did flame.
1685 J. Tutchin Poems 118 To see this Man, with folded Arms, and languid Eyes, Look like a Changeling, talk of nought but Love.
1713 J. Addison Cato i. v I'll hasten to my troops, And fire their languid souls with Cato's virtue.
1713 R. Steele in Guardian 1 Apr. 1/1 [Death] which, by reason of its seeming distance, makes but languid Impressions upon the Mind.
1742 A. Pope New Dunciad 46 With mincing step, small voice, and languid eye.
1751 Butler Charge Clergy Durham in Wks. (1874) II. 331 Without somewhat of this nature, piety will grow languid even among the better sort of men.
1775 E. Burke Speech Amer. Taxation 41 I never heard a more languid debate in this House.
1791 A. Radcliffe Romance of Forest I. i. 27 Madame gazed with concern upon her languid countenance.
1849 E. Bulwer-Lytton Caxtons I. i. iii. 15 Too lazy or too languid where only his own interests were at stake.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. ii. 177 In him dislike was a languid feeling.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. v. 570 A war of which the theatre was so distant..excited only a languid interest in London.
1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. xvii. 90 An appeal which might have moved the most languid and effeminate natures to heroic exertion.
1870 J. S. Howson Metaphors St. Paul iv. 153 What a contrast this is to our dull and languid Christianity!
1920 Amer. Woman Aug. 18/2 Billy, the insouciant! Billy the languid, the hater of scenes.
1975 E. Dunlop Robinsheugh xiv. 115 She passed a languid, indifferent eye over her daughter.
1996 Pittsburgh (Pa.) Post-Gaz. (Nexis) 12 Oct. b3 The Penguins' languid, non-start is discomfiting because of their all too familiar que sera sera approach.
b. Of style, writing, an idea, etc.: prosaic, insipid, or lifeless; mundane, lacking force or interest.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > weakness or feebleness > [adjective]
feeblec1400
colourlessc1425
flagging1540
pithless1555
blanched1570
toothless1592
unpointed1604
unsinewed1604
jejune1615
low-pitched1622
unsinewy?1623
macilent1624
flaccid1647
insinewy1653
unsubstanceda1658
incogent1667
pointless1673
languida1677
enervatea1704
unaccentuated1716
unnervate1725
lank1729
unforcible1754
nerveless1763
weak1771
flabby1793
slip-slop1814
tinkling1822
exsanguinea1834
twittery1840
slipshod1842
under-coloured1870
shaftless1881
thin1890
unaccented1893
wimpish1925
wimp1979
a1677 I. Barrow Wks. (1686) III. 404 Methinks the highest expressions, that language..can afford, are very languid and faint in comparison of what they strain to represent.
a1704 T. Brown Ess. Satire Ancients in Wks. (1730) I. 24 To hear Homer call'd dull and heavy..and Horace an Author unpolished languid and without force.
1788 H. J. Pye tr. Aristotle Poetic xxvi. 201 If it were lenthened in proportion to the length of the verse, it would be languid and insipid.
1864 J. H. Burton Scot Abroad II. ii. 179 They sent me two inscriptions but they were long and languid.
1865 T. Carlyle Hist. Friedrich II of Prussia VI. xx. vi. 150 He had written certain thin Books, all of a thin languid nature.
1865 J. R. Seeley Ecce Homo (ed. 8) iii. 25 The languid dreams of commentators.
1907 Trans. & Proc. Amer. Philol. Soc. 38 44 His style is more languid..than it should be.
1962 Valley Independent (Monessen, Pa.) 25 Sept. 14/3 Scranton is afraid of..displaying his languid ideas to Pennsylvanians.
2006 Wired July 115/3 With its..languid, utterly actionless plot,..The Wild Blue Yonder is about as far from a Matrix-style popcorn flick as you can get.
3.
a. Of a thing: slow-moving; weak, lacking force.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > rate of motion > slowness > [adjective] > tardy or sluggish
lateeOE
latredec897
latelyOE
slowfulc1400
latesomea1425
languoring?c1425
sluggedc1430
tardy1483
tediousc1485
hooly1513
longsome1543
lingeringa1547
tarde1547
slow-worm1548
tardious?1572
lagging1597
snail-slow1600
snail-paced1601
snail-like1639
languid1646
dilatory1648
sluggish1648
languishing1693
laggard1702
lentitudinous1801
laggardly1826
lag-last1862
slowpoke1872
the world > action or operation > manner of action > lack of violence, severity, or intensity > [adjective] > lacking vigour, strength, or spirit
bloodlessc1225
feeble1340
languoring?c1425
languid1646
chlorotic1764
exanimate1841
limp1853
anaemic1898
brain-dead1972
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica iii. xxv. 176 A languid and dumbe allision upon the parts. View more context for this quotation
1692 R. Bentley Boyle Lect. vi. 28 No Motion so swift or languid, but a greater Velocity or Slowness may still be conceived.
1717 A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad III. ix. 279 When the languid Flames at length subside.
1748 W. Shenstone Verses to W. Lyttleton in Odes iv When languid suns are taking leave Of every drooping tree.
1771 J. W. Baker Consideration Exportation of Corn 40 Under a languid cultivation, and uncertain market, rent devours the farmer.
1830 C. Lyell Princ. Geol. I. 199 That the same power..should even in its more languid state be capable of raising to the surface considerable quantities of water from the interior.
1834 T. B. Macaulay William Pitt in Ess. (1854) 302 Two rivers met, the one gentle, languid, and though languid, yet of no depth.
1857 Chambers's Information for People (new ed.) I. 777 If the healing action is languid, some stimulating ingredient may be added.
1912 C. Gouldsbury Songs out of Exile 41 I..drew soft comfort from the languid breeze.
1979 Technol. & Culture 20 326 There was only a broad, flat, and languid river.
2001 B. Hurd Stirring Mud (2003) iii. 38 You adjust your pace to the bayou, its dappled sunlight and Spanish moss, its languid water.
b. Of a colour: faint, dull, not vivid.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > quality of colour > [adjective] > faint or weak
wateryOE
dima1250
lighta1398
rare?1440
delayed1543
faint1552
weak1585
pale1598
distempered1621
washya1639
thin1649
languid1663
dilute1665
welmish1688
sickly1695
dimmed1863
1663 J. Beale Let. 30 Nov. in R. Boyle Corr. (2001) II. 218 The more rayes are emitted from the object to the eye by acute angles, the brighter the colour, & glosse wilbe; & the colour more languide darke, or dusky, as the rayes are thinner.
1747 W. Gould Acct. Eng. Ants 3 The first are of a languid Red; the second extremely black and shining.
1764 T. Reid Inq. Human Mind vi. §22 The colours of objects, according as they are more distant, become more faint and languid.
1849 N. Brit. Rev. May 142 The sun was undimmed, the sky was of a languid blue.
1911 L. Hourticq Art in France v. 276 A tumult of grey clouds and pale foliage, a combination of languid colour and vague light which recalls some of Correggio's works.
2004 Australian (Nexis) 22 Oct. c4 A more sober and ultimately saleable collection than usual, in languid marine colours and coral-reef prints.
4. Of business, trade, etc.: sluggish, inactive, dull; not brisk or lively.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > inaction > [adjective] > characterized by inaction or inactivity > specifically of places, seasons, trade, etc.
dead1581
languid1728
flat1831
1728 Poem to William Burnett 5 Branching Trade, which now too languid seems.
1785 J. Anderson Acct. Present State Hebrides Introd. p. xxxix In small communities, that market will be languid and unsteady.
1832 T. F. Dibdin (title) Bibliophobia. Remarks on the present languid and depressed state of Literature and the Book Trade.
1833 H. Martineau Messrs. Vanderput & Snoek iv. 64 The business has been very languid.
1866 A. Crump Pract. Treat. Banking viii. 169 On account of the circulation of their currencies being more languid.
1866 J. E. T. Rogers Hist. Agric. & Prices I. xviii. 406 The market for exports was exceedingly languid.
1887 Daily News 20 June 2/5 A languid tone has been observed in many quarters.
1940 D. Aikman All-Amer. Front xvi. 258 Now and then there were disputes over the languid trade between northern and southern republics.
1968 Press-Telegram (Long Beach, Calif.) 27 Aug. c7/3 Brokers attributed the market's languid performance of the last several sessions to a lack of any dramatic news.
2002 Times (Nexis) 13 June Analysts said Singapore's property market is likely to remain languid because of worries over impending changes to pension policy.
5. Of a period of time: relaxed and peaceful; characterized by inactivity or idleness.
ΚΠ
1732 J. Thurston Fall ii. 33 And strait at once appears in order gay, Each kind assassin of the languid day.
1866 C. M. Yonge Cameos lxxix, in Monthly Packet Sept. 217 No doubt he had longed for her in the weary languid hours before Meaux.
1891 Denton (Maryland) Jrnl. 28 Nov. 1/6 A taste for literature secures cheerful occupation for the unemployed and languid hours of life.
1906 A. C. Benson From College Window viii. 165 It was one of those languid days of early spring, when the frame and the mind alike seem unstrung and listless.
1992 A. Kurzweil Case of Curiosities viii. 55 It took a long and languid summer for Claude to fall into the patterns of the Abbé's life.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1688
adj.1595