languish

Etymology

From Middle English languysshen, from the present participle stem of Anglo-Norman and Middle French languir, from Late Latin languīre, alteration of Latin languēre (“to be faint, unwell”). : Compare languor and lax. : Cognate with slack.

verb

1. (intransitive) To lose strength and become weak; to be in a state of weakness or sickness.
2. (intransitive) To pine away in longing for something; to have low spirits, especially from lovesickness.
   He languished without his girlfriend
3. (intransitive) To live in miserable or disheartening conditions.
   He languished in prison for years
4. (intransitive) To be neglected; to make little progress, be unsuccessful.
   The case languished for years before coming to trial.
5. (transitive, obsolete) To make weak; to weaken, devastate.
6. (intransitive, now rare) To affect a languid air, especially disingenuously.
   He is an excellent young man, and will suit Harriet exactly: it will be an "exactly so," as he says himself; but he does sigh and languish, and study for compliments rather more than I could endure as a principal. 1815, Jane Austen, Emma
   His bowstring slackened, languid Love, / Leaning his cheek upon his hand, / Droops both his wings, regarding thee, / And so would languish evermore, / Serene, imperial Eleänore. a. 1833, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, “Eleänore”, in Poems, page 31