Standard Lemma guide

lethargic

adj · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Canada, General-American: /ləˈθɑɹd͡ʒɪk/
  • New-Zealand: /ləˈθɑːd͡ʒək/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ləˈθɑː.d͡ʒɪk/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɑː(ɹ)dʒɪk
  • CMU ARPABET: L AH0 TH AA1 R JH IH0 K Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Sluggish, slow.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: torpid, lazy, unmoving, abeyant, at rest, cessant, dormant, dull, fallow, idle, inactive, inert, languid, latent, nonactive, passive, quiescent, silent, sedent, sedentary, slow, suspended, unactive, unbusy, unemployed, unoccupied, crawling, slack, slow-moving, languorous, draggy, tardy, creeping, dreich, gastropodous, glacial, heavy-footed, inching, labored, leaden, lead-footed, lethargic, low-speed, lumbering, plodding, pokey, ponderous, slothlike, slow as a snail, slow as Christmas, slow as molasses, slow as molasses in January, slowfooted, sluggish, stately, steady, subglacial, sullen, tardigrade, tedious, testudineous, turtleish, turtlesque, unspeedy

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Indifferent, apathetic.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: torpid, unmoving, adiaphroistic, apathetic, apathistical, blasé, blithe, deaf, cool, shiftless, dispassionate, dull, enervated, gallionic, halfhearted, heartless, impassive, ineffervescible, insouciant, indifferent, insensible, jaded, languid, languorous, Laodicean, lethargic, listless, lackadaisical, lotophagous, lukewarm, meh, mopey, nonchalant, nonplussed, otiose, phlegmatic, pococurante, spiritless, supine, tepid, torpedinous, unaroused, uncaring, unconcerned, unenthusiastic, unimpressible, uninterested, unlively, unmoved, untouched, unzealous, world-weary

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective

Meaning 3

deficient in alertness or activity

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • bullfrogs became lethargic with the first cold nights

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: unenrgetic

Antonyms: energetic

History

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek ληθαργικός (lēthargikós), from λήθαργος (lḗthargos, “forgetful, lethargic”), from λήθη (lḗthē, “a forgetting, forgetfulness”) (from which Lethe (“river in Hades”)) + ἀργός (argós, “not working”). By surface analysis, lethargy + -ic.

Across languages

Translations

26 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: сънлив (sǎnliv) — sluggish, indifferent
  • Bulgarian: отпуснат (otpusnat) — sluggish, indifferent
  • Bulgarian: апатичен (apatičen) — sluggish, indifferent
  • Catalan: letàrgic — sluggish, indifferent
  • Chinese Mandarin: 昏睡的 — sluggish, indifferent
  • Finnish: unelias — sluggish, indifferent
  • Finnish: veltto — sluggish, indifferent
  • Finnish: vetelä — sluggish, indifferent
  • French: mollasson — sluggish, indifferent
  • French: léthargique — sluggish, indifferent
  • German: träge — sluggish, indifferent
  • Ancient Greek: λήθαργος (lḗthargos) — sluggish, indifferent
  • Hindi: आलसी (ālsī) — sluggish, indifferent
  • Irish: marbhánta — sluggish, indifferent
  • Italian: letargico — sluggish, indifferent
  • Māori: ārangirangi — sluggish, indifferent
  • Portuguese: letárgico — sluggish, indifferent
  • Russian: вя́лый (vjályj) — sluggish, indifferent
  • Russian: апати́чный (apatíčnyj) — sluggish, indifferent
  • Sanskrit: अलस (alasa) — sluggish, indifferent
  • Spanish: tardo — sluggish, indifferent
  • Spanish: letárgico — sluggish, indifferent
  • Swedish: letargisk — sluggish, indifferent
  • Telugu: మందకొడి (mandakoḍi) — sluggish, indifferent
  • Tocharian B: ālase — sluggish, indifferent
  • Turkish: uyuz — sluggish, indifferent