listless

Definitions  ·  Examples  ·  Pronunciations  ·  Etymologies  ·  Related  ·  Statistics  ·  Comments (3)  · 
Children were playing on the sidewalks, but theirs seemed a listless play; listless, too, were the men and women who sat on the steps,--listless, and somewhat sullen, as they watched us passing.

View all »
Definitions (7)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. adjective Lacking energy or disinclined to exert effort; lethargic: reacted to the latest crisis with listless resignation.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (3)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (2)

Toggle elsewhere links Elsewhere on the web

View all »
Examples (50)

  • Children were playing on the sidewalks, but theirs seemed a listless play; listless, too, were the men and women who sat on the steps,--listless, and somewhat sullen, as they watched us passing. —  A Far Country — Complete
  • Lucille's voice was dull and listless, and Archie's experienced ear could detect that she had been crying. —  Indiscretions of Archie
  • He felt dull, listless, at a loose end. —  The Adventures of Sally
  • Mr. Hale was utterly listless, and incapable of deciding on anything. —  North and South
  • He was listless, and his leads and counters lacked conviction. —  The White Feather
 

Tags

Sign up or sign in to add tags.

Words tagged listless

Stats

This word has been looked up 162 times.

On Twitter

Photos from

flickr images

Add a related word »
Related

Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

languid ·  dejected ·  apathetic ·  indolent ·  sluggish ·  sullen ·  torpid ·  pensive ·  lethargic ·  sleepy ·  inattentive ·  inert
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English listles : probably from liste, desire (from listen, to desire; see list5) + -les, -lesse, -less.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from list, n., + -less. Cf. lustless.
 

Pronunciations
Record your own »

/ˈlɪstlɛs/
by American Heritage

Charts

frequency chart

Bubble size: how much this word was used in a year

Bubble height: used more or less than expected, vs. all uses evenly distributed

You can expect to see this word several times a year.

Recently looked up

Mannstein · soiling · luxuriance · sophist · local

Recent Favorites

pygopagus · sanglant · Astacus · sweetbread · qualms

Recent Pronunciations

eu oi oìa u ou e u oìa · the octopi are dry · Kansas City · spell it rite · put it in your pocket