languor
/ˈlæŋɡə/
"languor" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“languor” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A state of the body or mind caused by exhaustion or disease and characterized by a languid or weary feeling; lassitude; (countable) an instance of this.
Corpus desk
Index EN-languor · languor · English
languor · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "L" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | languor |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈlæŋɡə/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “languor” in English
Rare enough to double-check
languor is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈlæŋɡə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 6 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for languor in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: The noun is derived from Middle English langore, langour (“disease, illness; misery, sadness; suffering; condition or event causing sadness, suffering, etc.; unwholesomeness; idleness, inertia; depression, self-disgust; expression of grief”) [and other form… The correct English form is languor, spelled L-A-N-G-U-O-R.
Definition
- 1A state of the body or mind caused by exhaustion or disease and characterized by a languid or weary feeling; lassitude; (countable) an instance of this.
- 2Melancholy caused by lovesickness, sadness, etc.; (countable) an instance of this.
- 3Dullness, sluggishness; lack of vigour; stagnation.
- 4Listless indolence or inactivity, especially if enjoyable or relaxing; dreaminess; (countable) an instance of this.
- 5Heavy humidity and stillness of the air.
- 6Sorrow; suffering; also, enfeebling disease or illness; (countable, obsolete) an instance of this.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how languor appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
languor of convalescence
Sometimes my pulse beat so quickly and hardly, that I felt the palpitation of every artery; at others, I nearly sank to the ground through languor and extreme weakness.
Etymology
The noun is derived from Middle English langore, langour (“disease, illness; misery, sadness; suffering; condition or event causing sadness, suffering, etc.; unwholesomeness; idleness, inertia; depression, self-disgust; expression of grief”) [and other forms], from Middle French languer, langueur, langour, and Anglo-Norman langor, langour, langur, Old French langueur, languour (“disease, illness; suffering; emotional fatigue, sadness; listlessness; stagnation”) (modern French langueur (“languor”)), and from their etymon Latin languor (“faintness, feebleness; languor; apathy”), from languēre, the present active infinitive of langueō (“to feel faint or weak; (figurative) to be idle, inactive; to be listless”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)leg-, *(s)leh₁g-. The English word is cognate with Catalan llangor, Italian languore (“faintness, weakness; languor”), langore (obsolete), Old Occitan langor (modern Occitan langor), Portuguese langor, languor (obsolete), Spanish langor.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.