lethargic

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English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek ληθαργικός (lēthargikós), from λήθαργος (lḗthargos, “forgetful, lethargic”), from λήθη (lḗthē, “a forgetting, forgetfulness”) (from which Lethe (“river in Hades”)) + ἀργός (argós, “not working”). By surface analysis, lethargy +‎ -ic.

Pronunciation

Adjective

lethargic (comparative more lethargic, superlative most lethargic)

  1. sluggish, slow
    Synonyms: torpid, lazy, unmoving; see also Thesaurus:inactive, Thesaurus:slow
    • 1960, P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves in the Offing, chapter VII:
      hasn't caught a mouse since he was a slip of a kitten. Except when eating, he does nothing but sleep. Lethargic is the word that springs to the lips. If you cast an eye on him, you will see that he's asleep now.
    • 1968, Christopher Hodder-Williams, “Hands”, in Fistful of Digits, London: Coronet Books, published 1972, →ISBN, page 125:
      She was, in fact, constitutionally impervious to statistics and preferred to study the be-headphoned group of fifteen or so lethargic wanderers who were taking even less notice of the remorseless squawkings than she was.
  2. indifferent, apathetic
    Synonyms: torpid, unmoving; see also Thesaurus:apathetic

Derived terms

Translations

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