Lethargic vs Listless - What's the difference?
lethargic | listless |
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
Lacking energy, enthusiasm, or liveliness.
* 1818 , , Frankenstein , ch. 18:
* 1861 , , The Stokesley Secret , ch. 6:
* 1901 , , The Hero , ch. 21:
* 2005 Nov. 29, Aryn Baker, "
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)Synonyms
* torpid * lazy * unmovinglistless
English
Adjective
(en adjective)- 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 .
- 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!
- The scene with Mrs. Wallace had broken his spirit, and he was listless now, indifferent to what happened.
John Hardy: Bali Guy," Time :
- “Listless , inattentive, distracted,” he recited. “A daydreamer. Tries his best, but is too slow.”