LANGUORS Synonyms: 85 Similar and Opposite Words

Q: How does the noun 'languor' contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of languor are lassitude , lethargy , stupor , and torpor . While all these words mean "physical or mental inertness," languor suggests inertia induced by an enervating climate or illness or love. // languor induced by a tropical vacation

Q: When is it sensible to use 'lassitude' instead of 'languor'?

While the synonyms lassitude and languor are close in meaning, lassitude stresses listlessness or indifference resulting from fatigue or poor health. // a depression marked by lassitude

Q: When can 'lethargy' be used instead of 'languor'?

The meanings of lethargy and languor largely overlap; however, lethargy implies such drowsiness or aversion to activity as is induced by disease, injury, or drugs. // months of lethargy followed my accident

Q: When could 'stupor' be used to replace 'languor'?

The synonyms stupor and languor are sometimes interchangeable, but stupor implies a deadening of the mind and senses by shock, narcotics, or intoxicants. // lapsed into an alcoholic stupor

Q: When might 'torpor' be a better fit than 'languor'?

While in some cases nearly identical to languor , torpor implies a state of suspended animation as of hibernating animals but may suggest merely extreme sluggishness. // a once alert mind now in a torpor

languor

noun

ˈlaŋ-gər

Definition of languor

as in boredom

physical or mental inertness the beach was packed with sunbathers wallowing in the languor brought on by a scorching summer day

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as in weakness

the quality or state of lacking physical strength or vigor the tropical heat sapped our strength, leaving us in a state of unaccustomed languor

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Synonym Chooser

How does the noun languor contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of languor are lassitude, lethargy, stupor, and torpor. While all these words mean "physical or mental inertness," languor suggests inertia induced by an enervating climate or illness or love.

languor induced by a tropical vacation

When is it sensible to use lassitude instead of languor?

While the synonyms lassitude and languor are close in meaning, lassitude stresses listlessness or indifference resulting from fatigue or poor health.

a depression marked by lassitude

When can lethargy be used instead of languor?

The meanings of lethargy and languor largely overlap; however, lethargy implies such drowsiness or aversion to activity as is induced by disease, injury, or drugs.

months of lethargy followed my accident

When could stupor be used to replace languor?

The synonyms stupor and languor are sometimes interchangeable, but stupor implies a deadening of the mind and senses by shock, narcotics, or intoxicants.

lapsed into an alcoholic stupor

When might torpor be a better fit than languor?

While in some cases nearly identical to languor, torpor implies a state of suspended animation as of hibernating animals but may suggest merely extreme sluggishness.

a once alert mind now in a torpor

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of languor Breaking Bad took place in the languor of suburbia and Better Call Saul in the corrupt organs of the legal system, but Vince Gilligan’s latest show Pluribus makes a home out of the stranger substrate of speculative sci-fi. — Kat Chen, Condé Nast Traveler, 29 Jan. 2026 No wilting languor on this veranda — for that matter, no veranda either — just ferocity, desperation, and, of course, brutal desire. — Sara Holdren, Vulture, 4 Dec. 2025 Nothing like a little languor and ennui — and in crisp black-and-white — on the Algerian coast to usher out winter and into spring. — Jay Cannon, USA Today, 25 Oct. 2025 Infield singles by Jake Cronenworth and Tatis in the eighth inning, both of which caromed off pitcher Gregory Soto, broke up the offensive languor but did not result in the game being any closer. — Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for languor

Recent Examples of Synonyms for languor

Noun

Cooke samples an absorbing range of hoaxes, from the college students who convinced the world that an imaginary Scotsman had invented the electric toaster to the Chinese housewife who fabricated an entire war out of boredom.

— Julian Lucas, New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2026
And from that boredom, a different kind of will, the willfulness that accompanies a need to destroy that happiness.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of boredom

Noun

His Envita medical records from this time detail his lethargy, his cough and his precipitous drop in weight.

— Trisha Thadani Kirsten Potter Tanya Pérez Devin Murphy, New York Times, 4 Oct. 2026
Phrasemaking is perhaps no contribution to the intellectual heritage of the race, but phrasemakers do snap us out of lethargy, and frequently out of ingrowing pessimism, which may be worse than frenzy.

— J. B. MacKinnon, Harpers Magazine, 22 Sep. 2026

Definition of lethargy

Noun

However, the threat posed by bounty hunter Paladin (Todd Stashwick) and the prospect of a reunion with his son conspire to draw him out of his stupor.

— Tom Bailey, Space.com, 13 Oct. 2026
The Rams’ decision to arrive in Melbourne the day before the game appeared to leave them in a stupor.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 16 Sep. 2026

Definition of stupor

Noun

Indeed, even after modern jeans were invented in the late 19th century, denim continued to be used to make such apparel as work jackets, prison uniforms, naval fatigues, and jumpsuits.

— Britannica Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica, 23 Oct. 2026
But many live with fatigue, weakness, brain fog and other symptoms for months or years before a deficiency is caught.

— Amanda Schupak, CNN Money, 23 Oct. 2026

Definition of fatigue

Noun

Stranger by the Lake is a bookend of sorts to La Piscine, as both films seem to condemn their characters, and by extension, the counterculture surrounding them, to a lassitude incapable of any moral authority.

— Erik Morse, Vogue, 26 June 2025
The result of this lassitude is that cars still rule the streets.

— Justin Davidson, Curbed, 18 Apr. 2025

Definition of lassitude

Noun

In recent years, white supremacists have embraced the concept of lactose intolerance as a distinguishing debility of nonwhite people.

— Hilary Smith, The Conversation, 25 Aug. 2026
And, when pets suffered from cancer or heart failure or debility, conversations about what to do next were emotional but often straightforward.

— Sunita Puri, New Yorker, 6 June 2026

Definition of debility

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“Languor.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/languor. Accessed 30 Oct. 2026.

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