HOW TO USE THE DICTIONARY
To look up an entry in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, use the search window above. For best results, after typing in the word, click on the “Search” button instead of using the “enter” key.
Some compound words (like bus rapid transit, dog whistle, or identity theft) don’t appear on the drop-down list when you type them in the search bar. For best results with compound words, place a quotation mark before the compound word in the search window.
THE USAGE PANEL
The Usage Panel is a group of nearly 200 prominent scholars, creative writers, journalists, diplomats, and others in occupations requiring mastery of language. Annual surveys have gauged the acceptability of particular usages and grammatical constructions.
AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY APP
The new American Heritage Dictionary app is now available for iOS and Android.
THE AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY BLOG
The articles in our blog examine new words, revised definitions, interesting images from the fifth edition, discussions of usage, and more.
INTERESTED IN DICTIONARIES?
Check out the Dictionary Society of North America at http://www.dictionarysociety.com
n. pl. leth·ar·gies 1. a. A lack of energy or vigor; sluggishness. b. A lack of interest or enthusiasm; apathy: held a pep rally to shake the students out of their lethargy. 2. Medicine An abnormal state of drowsiness, as caused by disease or drugs. [Middle English letargie, from Old French, from Late Latin lēthārgia, from Greek lēthārgiā, from lēthārgos, forgetful : lēthē, forgetfulness + ārgos, idle (a-, without; see A-1 + ergon, work; see werg- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots).] Synonyms: lethargy, lassitude, torpor, languor These nouns refer to a deficiency in mental and physical alertness and activity. Lethargy is a state of sluggishness, drowsy dullness, or apathy: "Your lethargy is such that you will not fight even to protect the freedom which your mothers won for you" (Virginia Woolf). Lassitude implies weariness or diminished energy such as might result from physical or mental strain: "His anger had evaporated; he felt nothing but utter lassitude" (John Galsworthy). Torpor suggests the suspension of activity characteristic of an animal in hibernation: "Confinement induced torpor, and from torpor he could easily slip to passivity, resignation, death" (Larry McMurtry). Languor is the indolence typical of one who is satiated by a life of luxury or pleasure: "with that slow, catlike way about him, cool, aloof, almost contemptuous in the languor and ease of his movements" (Tobias Wolff). |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
