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Lethargic vs Listless - What's the difference?

lethargic | listless |

As adjectives the difference between lethargic and listless

is that lethargic is sluggish, slow while listless is lacking energy, enthusiasm, or liveliness.

lethargic

English

Alternative forms

* lethargick (obsolete)

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • sluggish, slow
  • * {{quote-book
    • , year=1960 , author= , title=(Jeeves in the Offing) , section=chapter VII , passage=[That cat] hasn't caught a mouse since he was a slip of a kitten. Except when eating, he does nothing but sleep. Lethargic is the word that springs to the lips. If you cast an eye on him, you will see that he's asleep now.}}
  • indifferent, apathetic

    • Synonyms

    * torpid * lazy * unmoving

    Related terms

    * alethic, alethiology, philalethia * lethargy * Lethe

    listless

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Lacking energy, enthusiasm, or liveliness.
  • * 1818 , , Frankenstein , ch. 18:
    • I passed whole days on the lake alone in a little boat, watching the clouds and listening to the rippling of the waves, silent and listless .
  • * 1861 , , The Stokesley Secret , ch. 6:
    • What an entirely different set of beings were those Stokesley children in lesson-time. . . . Poor, listless , stolid, deplorable logs, with bowed backs and crossed ankles, pipy voices and heavy eyes!
  • * 1901 , , The Hero , ch. 21:
    • The scene with Mrs. Wallace had broken his spirit, and he was listless now, indifferent to what happened.
  • * 2005 Nov. 29, Aryn Baker, " John Hardy: Bali Guy," Time :
    • “Listless , inattentive, distracted,” he recited. “A daydreamer. Tries his best, but is too slow.”

    Derived terms

    * listlessly * listlessness

    Anagrams

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