What does languor mean?
Word: Languor
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Languor means a pleasant, lazy feeling of having no wish to move or do anything.
Synonyms: laziness
How do you spell languor?
Syllables: lan - guor
Tricky part: Spellers who know colour and humour want to finish this word in our. It ends in a plain or.
Watch out for: languour, languer
Memory tip: A lazy word does as little as possible: it stops at or and will not bother with our.
Languor in a sentence
Example 1: A summer languor hung over the hill station, and nobody wanted to leave the shade.
Example 2: In the heat of the afternoon, even the dogs gave in to languor and lay still on the cool stone.
Example 3: The novel opens with the languor of a long holiday by the sea.
Fun Fact
The Latin word it comes from meant faintness or weariness. Over the centuries English softened it, so that today it usually names a feeling people enjoy.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Insert the correct pair of letters to complete the word:
l_ng_or
a) a, e
b) a, u
c) u, u
d) e, u
Show answer
b) a, u. The word opens like lantern, and the u after the g is silent.
Mingle-Mangle
Rearrange the jumbled letters in the sentence to form the right word:
After the long swim, a delicious noalugr crept through her arms and legs.
a) lagoon
b) lantern
c) languor
d) laughter
Show answer
c) languor. Look for an r and a u together with an l and an n: one option has them all.
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word languor as used in the sentence:
After lunch a pleasant languor came over the guests on the veranda.
a) lethargy
b) sluggishness
c) listlessness
d) energy
Show answer
d) energy. Three options keep the guests in their chairs; this one gets them up.
Spell-o-Spell
Only one word in the list is misspelt. Choose the meaning of that word:
1. drowsyness 2. idleness 3. leisure 4. languor
a) free time for enjoying yourself
b) a dreamy, unhurried calm
c) the state of doing no work
d) the state of being half asleep
Show answer
d) the state of being half asleep. Drowsiness changes the y of drowsy to i, as happiness does.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which scene best suggests languor?
a) running to the bus stop in the rain
b) scoring a goal in the final minute
c) lying in a hammock on a hot afternoon
d) queueing for tickets at the station
Show answer
c) lying in a hammock on a hot afternoon
2. A writer who wants to create a feeling of languor would probably use ____.
a) short and very sharp commands
b) lists of dates and prices
c) loud and cheerful dialogue
d) long, slow and drifting sentences
Show answer
d) long, slow and drifting sentences
