- lan´guish|er
- lan|guish «LANG gwihsh», verb, noun.–v.i.1. to grow weak; become weary; droop: »
The flowers languished from lack of water.
SYNONYM(S): wither, fade.2. to become weak or wasted through pain, hunger, or other suffering; suffer under any unfavorable conditions: »The innocent man languished in prison for twenty years. The New York Shakespeare Festival…is a most important cultural endeavor in the city and should not be allowed to languish and disappear (New York Times).
3. to grow dull, slack, or less intense: »The sentry's vigilance never languished.
SYNONYM(S): dwindle.4. to droop with longing; pine with love or grief (for): »She languished for the home she had been forced to leave.
5. to assume a soft, tender look for effect: »When a visitor comes in, she smiles and languishes, you'd think that butter wouldn't melt in her mouth (Thackeray).
–n.1. the act or state of languishing: »One desperate grief cures with another's languish (Shakespeare).
2. a tender look or glance: »the warm, dark languish of her eyes (John Greenleaf Whittier).
╂[< Old French languiss-, stem of languir < Vulgar Latin languīre, for Latin languēre be weary]–lan´guish|er, noun.
Useful english dictionary. 2012.
