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  1. tepid love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. adj. Moderately warm; lukewarm.
  2. adj. Lacking in emotional warmth or enthusiasm; halfhearted: "the tepid conservatism of the fifties” ( Irving Howe).

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. Moderately warm; lukewarm.

Wiktionary

  1. adj. Lukewarm; neither warm nor cool.
  2. adj. Uninterested; exhibiting little passion or eagerness.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. adj. Moderately warm; lukewarm.

WordNet 3.0

  1. adj. moderately warm
  2. adj. feeling or showing little interest or enthusiasm

Etymologies

  1. From Latin tepidus. (Wiktionary)
  2. Middle English, from Latin tepidus, from tepēre, to be lukewarm. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

  • “Former Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a Shiite, also took a stab at what he called a tepid U.S. response to the unrest against the tiny island's Sunni monarchy.”

    The Seattle Times

  • “I haven't read this, but I did read Esslemont's Night of Knives and I thought it was a bit meh, so I am not surprised that "tepid" is the one word applied to this volume.”

    Ian Cameron Esslemont - Return of the Crimson Guard (Book Review)

  • “Given the long-term tepid outlook for the world economy, is the near-future the right time to force those costs down consumers' throats?”

    The Huffington Post: Steve Parker: EPA Rates Volt and Leaf: What's Your Choice?

  • “And from its crimson source in tepid channels flow.”

    Poems, by Mrs. M. Robinson

  • “Beneath this window is a broad divan, and here, laved in tepid sea winds and soothed by rippling whispers against the ship's side, I sleep – the langorous, voluptuous sleep of the tropics; ... sink softly into that dim warm flood where one lies drenched, submerged in unconsciousness; a flood that ebbs slowly, slowly – bearing with it all fatigue and satiety – and leaves me on the shores of life again in a pale lilac dusk glimmering with great stars ....”

    In Seven Stages: A Flying Trip Around the World

  • “These good global numbers hide, however, a more complex reality, namely a tepid recovery in many advanced economies, and a much stronger one in most emerging and developing economies.”

    The Huffington Post: World Faces Serious New Economic Challenges

  • “BLITZER: President Obama is now using the toughest language yet to condemn Iran's crackdown on political protesters after a week of what his critics called a tepid response.”

    CNN Transcript Jun 23, 2009

  • “That said, even as a conservative, I believe my bias towards John Tory could have been most charitably described as tepid I did not support him for leader, and as recently as two weeks ago I was not very impressed.”

    Archive 2007-09-01

  • “So, White House Spokesman Gordon Johndroe is saying the President feels that his so-called tepid endorsement of Maliki was misreported, and that he wants to make clear today that he's fully behind Maliki.”

    CNN Transcript Aug 22, 2007

  • “Tom Gullikson, the captain from 1994-99, recalls the tepid response he and the team received after a dramatic win against Russia in 1995 when Sampras won all three of the USA's points in one of the best efforts in Cup history.”

    USATODAY.com - Eight is enough for upstart American team

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Lists

These user-created lists contain the word ‘tepid’.

Comments

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  • bilby Can't rule out the metaphorical. May 13, 2009

  • cxkang strictly physical context? May 13, 2009

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‘tepid’ has been looked up 4177 times, loved by 13 people, added to 86 lists, commented on 2 times, and has a Scrabble score of 8.