Adjacent Words

Lethargy definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

LETH'ARGY, n. [L. lethargia; Gr. oblivion and idle.]
1. Preternatural sleepiness; morbid drowsiness; continued or profound sleep, from which a person can scarcely be awaked, and if awaked, remains stupid.
2. Dullness; inaction; inattention.
Europe lay them under a deep lethargy.
LETH'ARGY, v.t. To make lethargic or dull.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a state of comatose torpor (as found in sleeping sickness) [syn: lethargy, lassitude, sluggishness]
2: weakness characterized by a lack of vitality or energy [syn: inanition, lassitude, lethargy, slackness]
3: inactivity; showing an unusual lack of energy; "the general appearance of sluggishness alarmed his friends" [syn: languor, lethargy, sluggishness, phlegm, flatness]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English litargie, from Medieval Latin litargia, from Late Latin lethargia, from Greek l?thargia, from l?thargos forgetful, lethargic, irregular from l?th? Date: 14th century 1. abnormal drowsiness 2. the quality or state of being lazy, sluggish, or indifferent Synonyms: lethargy, languor, lassitude, stupor, torpor mean physical or mental inertness. lethargy implies such drowsiness or aversion to activity as is induced by disease, injury, or drugs <months of lethargy followed my accident>. languor suggests inertia induced by an enervating climate or illness or love <languor induced by a tropical vacation>. lassitude stresses listlessness or indifference resulting from fatigue or poor health <a depression marked by lassitude>. stupor implies a deadening of the mind and senses by shock, narcotics, or intoxicants <lapsed into an alcoholic stupor>. 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>.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 lack of energy or vitality; a torpid, inert, or apathetic state. 2 Med. morbid drowsiness or prolonged and unnatural sleep. Derivatives: lethargic adj. lethargically adv. Etymology: ME f. OF litargie f. LL lethargia f. Gk lethargia f. lethargos forgetful f. leth-, lanthanomai forget

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Lethargy Leth"ar*gy (-j[y^]), n.; pl. -gies (-j[i^]z). [F. l['e]thargie, L. lethargia, Gr. lhqargi`a, fr. lh`qargos forgetful, fr. lh`qh forgetfulness. See Lethe.] 1. Morbid drowsiness; continued or profound sleep, from which a person can scarcely be awaked. 2. A state of inaction or indifference. Europe lay then under a deep lethargy. --Atterbury.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Lethargy Leth"ar*gy, v. t. To lethargize. [Obs.] --Shak.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Lethargy is the condition or state of being lethargic. Symptoms include tiredness, paleness, and lethargy.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Stupor, torpor, coma, stupefaction, hypnotism, stupidity, morbid drowsiness.

Moby Thesaurus

abstraction, abulia, acedia, alienation, aloofness, anxiety, anxiety equivalent, anxiety state, apathy, asininity, ataraxia, ataraxy, benumbedness, blah, blahs, blockishness, boobishness, boorishness, boredom, bovinity, catalepsy, catatonic stupor, cloddishness, coma, comatoseness, compulsion, crassness, crudeness, dejection, denseness, density, depression, detachment, dim-wittedness, dimness, disinterest, dispassion, disregard, dolce far niente, doltishness, doziness, drowsiness, dull-wittedness, dullardism, dullness, dumbness, duncery, elation, emotionalism, encephalitis lethargica, enervation, ennui, euphoria, exhaustion, fatigue, folie du doute, grossness, heartlessness, heaviness, hebetude, heedlessness, high, hopelessness, hypochondria, hysteria, hysterics, idleness, impassivity, inactivity, inanimation, inanition, inappetence, indifference, indolence, inertia, inertness, insensibility, insouciance, jadedness, lack of appetite, lackadaisicalness, languidness, languishment, languor, languorousness, lassitude, laziness, lenitude, lentor, lethargicalness, lifelessness, listlessness, loutishness, lumpishness, mania, melancholia, mental distress, narcohypnosis, narcolepsy, narcoma, narcosis, narcotic stupor, narcotization, ninnyism, nod, nonchalance, numbness, oafdom, oafishness, obsession, obtuseness, opacity, oscitancy, oscitation, pandiculation, passiveness, passivity, pathological indecisiveness, phlegm, phlegmaticalness, phlegmaticness, plucklessness, preoccupation, psychalgia, psychomotor disturbance, resignation, resignedness, satedness, sedation, shock, simpletonianism, sleep, sleepiness, sleeping sickness, sloth, slothfulness, slowness, sluggishness, slumber, somnolence, somnolency, sopor, soporifousness, sottishness, spiritlessness, spunklessness, stolidity, stretching, stupefaction, stupidity, stupor, supineness, swoon, thanatosis, thick-headedness, thick-wittedness, tic, tiredness, torpidity, torpidness, torpitude, torpor, trance, twitching, unconcern, unmindfulness, unresponsiveness, unteachability, weakness, weariness, withdrawal, withdrawnness, world-weariness, wrongheadedness, yawning, yokelism