Languish

Definitions: Languish

Languish

Verb

1. Lose vigor, health, or flesh, as through grief; "After her husband died, she just pined away".

2. Have a yen for.

3. Become feeble; "The prisoner has be languishing for years in the dungeon".

Date "languish" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1010. (references)

Domain	Definitions
Literature	Languish (Lydia). A young lady of romantic notions in The Rivals, a play by Sheridan. Source: Brewer's Dictionary.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Synonyms: Languish

Synonyms: ache (v), fade (v), long (v), pine (v), pine away (v), waste (v), yearn (v), yen (v). (additional references)

Context	Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).
Desire	Desiderate; sigh for, cry for, gape for, gasp for, pine for, pant for, languish for, yearn for, long, be on thorns for, hope for; aspire after; catch at, grasp at, jump at.
Disease	Verb: be ill; Adjective: ail, suffer, labor under, be affected with, complain of, have; droop, flag, languish, halt; sicken, peak, pine; gasp.
Inactivity	Languish, expend itself, flag, hang fire; relax.
Nonincrease, Decrease	Verb: decrease, diminish, lessen; abridge; (shorten); shrink; (contract); drop off, fall off, tail off; fall away, waste, wear; wane, ebb, decline; descend; subside; melt away, die away; retire into the shade, hide its diminished head, fall to a low ebb, run low, languish, decay, crumble.
Pain	Grieve; mourn; (lament); yearn, repine, pine, droop, languish, sink; give way; despair; break one's heart; weigh upon the heart; (inflict pain).
Weakness	Verb: be weak; Adjective: drop, crumble, give way, totter, tremble, shake, halt, limp, fade, languish, decline, flag, fail, have one leg in the grave.
Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

Crosswords: Languish

English words defined with "languish": die, Dwine ♦ Languished, Languishing, Langure ♦ To fall away. (references)

Specialty definitions using "languish": Kohol ♦ Lydia Languish. (references)

Etymologies containing "languish": Languente, languid, languor, Langure. (references)

Domain	Title
Books	Reins of Far Lands: Let April Languish (reference) (more book examples)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Subject	Topic	Quote
Civil Liberties	Yemen	Cases and ongoing trials involving journalists often are not resolved formally, but rather are settled through unofficial agreements between the Government and the journalists, or languish indefinitely. (references)
Economic History	Guyana	Since embarking on a series of market-oriented reforms in 1991, Guyana had experienced strong and consistent economic growth, but this progress stalled in 1998 and continued to languish throughout 1999. A slight increase in GDP was due nearly entirely to bumper commodity crop yields, including sugar and rice. (references)
Human Rights	Nicaragua	Although very simple cases or those with high profile or outside interest may be resolved quickly, many languish for months. (references)
Political Economy	Guatemala	However, legal proceedings against the perpetrators of the massacre continued to languish in the courts. (references)
	HONDURAS	Airport management was turned over to a United States-led consortium in October 2000, but the telephone company bid failed the same month and a bill authorizing privatization of electricity distribution continues to languish in Congress. (references)
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Speaker	Term	Phrase(s)
George Washington	1789-1797	But as the legislative proceedings of the United States will never, I trust, be reproached for the want of temper or of candor, so shall not the public happiness languish from the want of my strenuous and warmest cooperation.
Ronald Reagan	1981-1989	Many languish in neighborhoods riddled with drugs and bereft of hope.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

"Languish" is generally used as a lexical verb (infinitive) -- approximately 75.00% of the time. "Languish" is used about 32 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)

Parts of Speech	Percent	Usage per 100 Million Words	Rank in English
Lexical Verb (infinitive)	75%	24	71,196
Lexical Verb (base form)	18.75%	6	143,867
Adjective (general or positive)	6.25%	2	245,945
Total	100.00%	32	N/A

Expressions using "languish": languish away ♦ languish for ♦ languish in prison. Additional references.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.

Language		Translations for "languish"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.
Albanian		lëshohem (be launched, cave in, fail, flag, flop, go down, hibernate, lag, rush on, stoop, unwind), lëngoj, vuaj (ache, agonize, grill, pain, suffer), fishkem (fade, shrivel, wilt, wither), dobësohem (become weak, decay, dilute, ebb, fail, flag, grow feeble, grow thin, lag, melt, reduce, relax, sink, slip, tone down, wane, weaken, wilt), dobësi (adynamia, anaemia, anemia, debility, delicacy, disease, failing, feebleness, flabbiness, flaccidity, fragility, frailty, goneness, impotence, impotency, inanimation, inanition, inanity, infirmity, labefaction, languor, laxness, leanness, limpness, malady, marasmus, reaction, sinking, tabescence, tenuity, vulnerability, washiness, weakness), dëshirohem (hanker, long), brengosem. (various references)

Arabic		‏فتر (cool, cool down, flag, freeze, lag), ‏هزل (attenuate, badinage, emaciate, extenuate, fun, humor, humour, joke, peak, pine, pine away, playfulness, pleasantry, reduce, slim, thin), ‏وهن (asthenia, attenuate, attenuation, damp, dampen, debilitate, debility, decay, discouragement, distemper, droop, enervate, enfeeble, extenuate, feebleness, imitators, infirmity, invalidate, languishment, languor, pall, relax, sap, shrivel, sickliness, thin, weak spot, weaken, weaklings), ‏تفتر همته, ‏ضنى (exhaust, hardship, spend, tire, tucker), ‏ذبل (consume, etiolate, fade, flag, quail, sear, shell, shrivel, wilt, wither, wizen), ‏أضعف (attenuate, break, debilitate, decay, decline, depress, detach, diminish, disable, emaciate, emasculate, enervate, enfeeble, fade, geld, hone, hurt, impair, incapacitate, invalidate, jellify, lose weight, macerate, neutralize, pall, perish, reduce, run down, sag, sap, shorten, sink, slacken, slake, soften, subside, thin, waste, weaken). (various references)

Bulgarian		копнея (ache, crave, hanker, hunger, long, pant, pine, sigh, weary, yearn, yen), жален поглед, отпадам (drop out, faint, fall off, sag, sink, wilt), отслабвам (abate, become peaky, become thin and hollow-cheeked, become weak, diminish, lose weight, moderate, sag, slim, thin, weaken, wind down, wither), вехна (fade, pine, waste, wilt, wither), гледам жално, линея (consume, peak and pine, pine, waste), гния (corrupt, decay, decompose, fester, putrefy, rot), сантименталнича, кретам (toddle), чезна (die away, diminish, fade, fade away, peak and pine, pine, recede, tail away, trickle, vanish, wane, waste, wear away, wither), чезнене (wane), разнежен поглед, разнеженост, слабея (peak and pine, reduce, thin, thin down), гледам разнежено. (various references)

Chinese		衰弱 (Ailing, Feeble, Languished, Languishing), �"悴 , 凋謝 . (various references)

Czech		umdlévat. (various references)

Farsi		پژمرده شدن (Droop, Miff, Quail), افسرده شدن (Dampen, Gloom, Sadden), بیمارعشق شدن , بیحال شدن , باچشمان پراشتیاق نگاه کردن , باچشمان خمارنگریستن . (various references)

Finnish		riutua (pine away, waste), kitua (linger, suffer pain), kaihota (long, pine, yearn). (various references)

French		languir, souffrir, dépérir. (various references)

German		verschmachten (be dying of, swelter, to swelter), sich verzehren (eat one's heart out, pine away), sich sehnen nach (crave for, to long for), schmachten (pine, to languish, yearn), krebsen (go crabbing, struggle). (various references)

Greek		μαραζώνω (pine, waste away, wizen), μαραίνομαι (droop, fade, wilt, wither), εξασθενώ (attenuate, debilitate, emasculate, impair, weaken), λυώνω (consume away, macerate, melt, scuff, thaw). (various references)

Hebrew		לערו�' (long for, pine, thirst, yearn), לאבול (lament, mourn, perish, wither), לאב�" מרץ, ל�"תמו�'�' (dissolve), ל�"ת�'ע�'ע (long for, pine, sigh, yearn), ל�"ת� ון (atrophy, decadent, degenerate, run to seed, waste away), ל�"אוב (be sad, become faint, grieve, lament, pine). (various references)

Hungarian		eped, elerõtlenedik, bánkódik (to sigh for, to sorrow, to trouble, to yearn). (various references)

Italian		languire (become weak, grow faint, pine away). (various references)

Japanese Kanji		弱り衰える (to languish). (various references)

Japanese Katakana		よわりおとろえる (to languish). (various references)

Manx		shymley (consume, decline, droop, failing, languishing, pine, pining), shirgaghey (atrophy, contract, dry up, mummify, perish, sear, shrivel, wilt, wither, withering). (various references)

Norwegian		vansmekte. (various references)

Pig Latin		anguishlay

Portuguese		languir, prostração (collapse, despondency, droop, drop, enfeeble, prostration), enfraquecer (abate, attenuate, decay, diminish, enervate, extenuate, fade, fail, faint, flag, flatten, impair, impoverish, jade, peak, pine, rust, sap, slacken, undermine, waste, weaken), definhar (break, consume, die, emaciate, pine, rot, waste), debilitar (attenuate, crock, debilitate, depress, enervation, enfetter, etiology, impair, impoverish, unbrace, undermine, unnerve, weaken), adoecer (crock, fall ill, ill-advised, sicken). (various references)

Romanian		lâncezi (drag along, linger, mope, wilt), tânji (flag, pine, slacken, stagnate, wither, yearn), suferi (abide, ail, allow, bear, Brook, carry out, endure, experience, go through, have, permit, put up with, smart, stand, stick, suffer, undergo), stagna (be at a standstill, slacken, stagnate), slãbi (abate, attenuate, Bate, crock, debilitate, depauperate, diminish, drain, droop, dull, ease, emaciate, emasculate, enfeeble, extenuate, fade, fail, flag, go down, grow weak, impair, let, loosen, lose flesh, lose weight, macerate, mine, peak and pine, pinch, pull down, reduce, relax, sap, sink, slack, slacken, slenderize, slim, soften, subdue, subside, take the edge off, thin, undermine, weaken), se stinge (blow out, break, die, die away, die out, disappear, expire, fade, fail, go, quench), se ofili (droop, fade, flag, peak and pine, pine, waste away). (various references)

Russian		слабеть (fail, give, peak, relax, slacken, weaken), чахнуть (pine, pine away, waste away), томный вид, принимать томный вид. (various references)

Serbo-Croatian		venuti (fade, fall away, wither), sahnuti, malaksati (droop, flag, grow feeble, let up), klonuti (droop, flag, quail), čileti (tail away), čamiti. (various references)

Spanish		languidecer (flag, pale, pine). (various references)

Swedish		tråna (eat one's heart out, pine, yearn). (various references)

Turkish		sürünmek (crawl, creep, drag, grovel, rough it, trail), hali kalmamak (be exhausted, droop, faint, feel faint), gevşemek (come loose, come unstuck, cool down, ease off, fade, flag, get loose, go limp, let go, let up, let upon, loosen, relax, slack, slack off, slacken, soften, unbend, unbrace oneself, unwind, work loose), durgunlaşmak (drag, slacken, stagnate), dert etmek (fester, get the pips, let smth. prey on one's mind, nurse, trouble), cansızlaşmak, üzülmek (be troubled about, bother, bother about, deplore, feel bad about, feel badly about, fret, grieve, have the hump, regret, rue, sadden, sorrow, trouble, worry, worry oneself), çürümek (become unsound, canker, decay, decline, decompose, fester, go bad, go off, molder, moulder, perish, putrefy, ret, rot, sphacelate, spoil). (various references)

Ukranian		чахнути (decay, pine, waste, wither), в'ялість (drowsiness, flabbiness, flaccidity, oscitancy), млосний вигляд, знемагати (pine away, sicken, stew, yearn). (various references)

Welsh		llesga/u (faint, weaken), nychu (pine, sicken, waste), dihoeni (pine, waste). (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

Language	Period	Translations
Latin	500 BCE-Modern	aegrotabat, aegrotabis, aegrotare, aegrotaret, aegrotasset, aegrotat, aegrotavit, languere. (various references)
Old French	900-1400	languir. (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Language	Date	Source	Jeremiah Chapter 14, Verse 2
Greek (transliterated)	250 BC	Septuagint	Epenqhsen h ioudaia kai ai pulai authV ekenwqhsan kai eskotwqhsan epi thV ghV kai h kraugh thV ierousalhm anebh
Latin	405	Vulgate	Luxit Iudaea et portae eius corruerunt et obscuratae sunt in terra et clamor Hierusalem ascendit
Middle English	1395	Wyclif	Weilede Jewerie, and his yatus fellen doun, and ben dercned in the erthe, and the cri of Jerusalem steyede vp.
Jacobean English	1611	King James	Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish; they are black unto the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up.
Victorian English	1833	Webster	Judah mourneth, and her gates languish; they are black to the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up.
Basic English	1964	Ogden	Judah is weeping and its doors are dark with sorrow, and people are seated on the earth clothed in black; and the cry of Jerusalem has gone up.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Language	Jeremiah Chapter 14, Verse 2
Bulgarian	Юда ридае, и людете в портите му са изнемощели; Седят на земя чернооблечени; И викът на Ерусалим се издигна.
Cebuano	Ang Juda nagabalata, ug ang mga ganghaan niini nagaanam ug kaluya, sila nanaglingkod sa yuta sa ilang bisti nga maitum; ug ang pagtu-aw sa Jerusalem midangat sa kahitas-an.
Chinese	猶大悲 �"� 、城門衰敗、眾人披上黑衣坐在地上．耶路 �'' 冷的 �"� 聲上 �" 。
Croatian	Judeja je tugom obrvana i ginu njeni gradovi, sumorno leže na zemlji, krik Jeruzalema do neba se vije.
Danish	Juda sørger; dets Porte vansmægter sørgeklædt i Støvet, Jerusalems Skrig stiger op,
Dutch	Juda treurt en haar poorten zijn verzwakt; zij zijn in het zwart gekleed ter aarde toe, en Jeruzalems geschrei klimt op.
Finnish	"Juuda murehtii, sen portit raukeavat, kallistuvat murheasussa maahan; ja Jerusalemista nousee valitushuuto.
French	Juda est dans le deuil, Ses villes sont désolées, tristes, abattues, Et les cris de Jérusalem s`élèvent.
German	Juda liegt jämmerlich, ihre Tore stehen elend; es steht kläglich auf dem Lande, und ist zu Jerusalem ein großes Geschrei.
Haitian Creole	-Peyi Jida nan gwo lapenn, lavil li yo ap depafini. Tout moun kouche atè ap plenn. Nan lavil Jerizalèm moun ap rele anmwe!
Hungarian	Gyászol Júda, és kapui roskadoznak; szomorkodnak a földön, és Jeruzsálem kiáltása felszáll.
Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari	"Yehuda bersedih hati kota-kotanya hampir mati. Orang-orangnya berbaring di tanah dan mengeluh. Yerusalem menjerit minta dibantu.
Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama	Bahwa negeri Yehuda berdukacita dan segala pintu gerbangnyapun lemahlah adanya; dengan pakaian perkabungan duduklah masing-masing di bumi dan tangis Yeruzalempun naiklah ke langit.
Italian	Giuda è in lutto, le sue citt� languiscono, sono a terra nello squallore; il gemito di Gerusalemme sale al cielo.
Korean	� 다 가 슬 퍼 하 며 성 문 의 무 리 가 곤 비 하 여 땅 에 앉 아 � 통 하 니 예 루 살 � � 의 부 르 짖 음 이 위 에 오 르 도 다
Maori	Kei te tangi a Hura, ngehe kau ona kuwaha, kua noho ki te whenua he mangu ona kakahu; kua kake te aue o Hiruharama ki runga.
Modern Greek	Ο Ιουδας πενθει και αι πυλαι αυτου ειναι περιλυποι· κοιτονται κατα γης μελανειμονουσαι· και ανεβη η κραυγη της Ιερουσαλημ.
Norwegian	Juda sørger, og dets byer vansmekter; de sitter i sørgeklær på jorden, og Jerusalems klageskrik stiger op.
Portuguese	Judá chora, e as suas portas estão enfraquecidas; eles se sentam de luto no chão; e o clamor de Jerusalém já vai subindo.
Rumanian	,,Iuda jqlewte, cetqyile lui sknt pustiite, triste, posomorkte, wi strigqtele Ierusalimului se knalyq.``
Russian	рМБЮЕФ йХ�"Б, ЧПТПФБ ЕЗП ТБУ� БМЙУШ, � ПЮЕТОЕМЙ ОБ ЪЕНМЕ, Й ЧП� МШ � П�"ОЙНБЕФУС Ч йЕТХУБМЙНЕ.
Spanish	--Se ha enlutado Judá, y las puertas de sus ciudades están por caer. El pueblo está abrumado en el suelo, y se levanta el clamor de Jerusalén.
Swedish	Juda ligger sörjande, dess portar äro förfallna, likasom i sorgdräkt luta de mot jorden, och ett klagorop stiger upp från Jerusalem. >Jes, 3,6. Jer. 12,4. Klag. 1,4. 2,8.
Thai	"ยู�"าห์ไว้ทุกข์ และประตูเมืองทั้งปวงของเธอก็อ่อนกำลังลง ประชาชนของเธอก็แต่ง�"ำหน้าก้มอยู่บนแผ่น�"ิน และเสียงร้องของเยรูซาเล็มก็ขึ้นไป
Ukrainian	Упала в жалобу Юдея, а брами її ослабіли, насупилися на землі, і знявся крик Єрусалиму.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Derivations
	Words beginning with "languish": languished, languisher, languishers, languishes, languishing, languishingly, languishment, languishments. (additional references)
Misspellings
	"Languish" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: alnguish, langrish, languist, Lingoism, linguis, linguism, Lonquich. (additional references)
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

# of Phoneme Matches	Pronunciation	Word(s) rhyming with "languish" (pronounced la"nggwish)
6	-a" ng g w i sh	anguish.
5	-ng g w i sh	extinguish.
3	-w i sh	relinquish, vanquish.
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams
	Direct Anagrams: nilghaus, shauling.
	Words within the letters "a-g-h-i-l-n-s-u"
	-1 letter: anguish, hauling, inhauls, lashing, lushing, nilgaus, nilghau.
	-2 letters: aguish, algins, aligns, ashing, haling, hangul, inhaul, laighs, lasing, laughs, liangs, ligans, lingas, lingua, lungis, nilgau, signal, sluing, uhlans, unlash.
	-3 letters: algin, align, anils, gains, glans, glias, gnash, guans, hails, hangs, hauls, hilus, hulas, iglus, laigh, laugh, liang, ligan, linga, lings, lunas, lungi, lungs, nails, nighs, sangh, saugh, shaul, shuln, slain, slang, sling, slung, snail, suing, uhlan, ulans, ulnas, unais, using.
	-4 letters: agin, ails, ains, anil, anis, anus, gain, gals, gash, gaun, ghis, gins, glia, gnus, guan, guls, guns, gush, hags, hail, hang, haul, hila, hins, hisn, hugs, hula, hung, huns, iglu, lags, lain, lang, lash, ling, lins, lugs, luna, lung, lush, nags, nail, nigh, nils, sail, sain, sang, saul, shag, shin, shul, shun, sial, sigh, sign, sing, sinh, slag, slug, snag, snug, sugh, sung, ughs, ulan, ulna, unai.
	-5 letters: ail, ain, ais, als, ani, ash, gal, gan, gas, ghi, gin, gnu, gul, gun, hag, has, hin, his, hug, hun, ins, lag, las, lin, lis, lug, nag, nah, nil, nus, sag, sal, sau, sha, sin, sun, ugh, uns.
	Words containing the letters "a-g-h-i-l-n-s-u"
	+1 letter: laughings, unlashing.
	+2 letters: languished, languisher, languishes, sulphating, unleashing.
	+3 letters: languishers, languishing, unshackling.
	+4 letters: glutathiones, languishment, slaughtering.
	+5 letters: clearinghouse, hallucinogens, housecleaning, languishingly, languishments, laughingstock, overslaughing, swashbuckling.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.