languish

/'læɳgwiʃ/

Thân thiện

The prisoner continues to languish in his cell.

Definition

1. Verb:
   • To become weak, feeble, or lose vitality: To grow weak or lose strength, often over a long period, especially due to harsh conditions or neglect.
   • To suffer from being forced to remain in an unpleasant place or situation: To exist in a state of unhappiness or neglect, often while waiting for something to change.
   • To experience a longing or yearning: To pine for someone or something that is absent or unattainable.

Usage and Examples

• To become weak or lose vitality:

  • The plants began to languish without water.
  • Her enthusiasm for the project started to languish after months of delays.

• To suffer in an unpleasant state:

  • Political prisoners often languish in jail for years without a trial.
  • The old ship languished in the harbor, forgotten and decaying.

• To long for someone or something:

  • She languished for her homeland while living abroad.
  • He languished for a love that could never be.

Advanced Usage and Nuances

• "to languish in obscurity": To remain unknown, unsuccessful, or forgotten for a long time.

  • The brilliant scientist languished in obscurity until her discovery was finally recognized.

• "to languish away": To gradually decline in health or spirit, often from sorrow or longing. This is a more emphatic form.

  • After losing his job, he seemed to languish away in his apartment.

Variants and Related Words

• Languishing (adjective/participle): In a state of weakness, neglect, or longing.

  • The languishing patient needed constant care.
  • She gave him a languishing look full of sorrow.

• Languor (noun): A state of tiredness or inertia, often of a pleasant kind; a lack of energy or vitality.

  • The summer afternoon was filled with a pleasant languor.

• Languid (adjective): Displaying or having a disinclination for physical exertion or effort; slow and relaxed.

  • She moved with a languid grace.

Synonyms

• Pine: To suffer a mental and physical decline, especially because of a broken heart or longing.
• Wither: To become dry and shriveled; to lose vitality.
• Decline: To become weaker, smaller, or less in quality.
• Yearn: To have an intense feeling of longing for something.

Antonyms

• Flourish: To grow or develop in a healthy or vigorous way.
• Thrive: To prosper, grow, or develop well and vigorously.
• Revive: To regain life, consciousness, or strength.

Related Idioms and Phrases

• Languish on the vine: To be neglected or wasted; to fail to be used or developed.
  • Many good ideas languish on the vine due to a lack of funding.

Học thuật

Verb

1. become feeble
   • The prisoner has be languishing for years in the dungeon
2. have a desire for something or someone who is not present
   • She ached for a cigarette
   • I am pining for my lover
3. lose vigor, health, or flesh, as through grief
   • After her husband died, she just pined away

Từ đồng nghĩa

• fade
• ache
• yearn
• yen
• pine
• pine away
• waste