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A.Word.A.Day--lassitude

lassitude (LAS-i-tood, -tyood) noun

Weariness; listlessness; lethargy.

[From French, from Latin lassitudo, from lassus (weary). Ultimately from Indo-European root le- (to let go or slacken) that's also the ancestor of words such as late, last, alas, allegiance, and lenient.]

See more usage examples of lassitude in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

"In order to appear busy, one should pace around the office clutching files. ... The best part of this ancient ritual is that it tends to make one's colleagues look away - just in case you and your papers are going to interrupt their own lassitude." Is Slacking the Only Way to Survive the Office?; The Scotsman (Edinburgh, Scotland); Aug 16, 2004.

"'At Euro 2004 and the 2002 World Cup,' Blatter commented this week, 'many stars were physically and mentally exhausted, and left an aftertaste of nonchalance and lassitude.'" Rob Hughes; Soccer: The Olympic Flame Running Low on Fuel; International Herald Tribune (Paris, France); Aug 11, 2004.

Usually the words in AWAD form a theme but once in a while we simply feature words that are engaging by themselves. Consider this a cross-country drive through the dictionary, with no itinerary in hand.

We'll make several stops along the way, but who knows where we might stop and why? Let's see what kind of words we might come across. We'll meet words that are long or short and unusual or familiar, but all of them, just like people, are interesting if we care enough to learn about them.

-Anu Garg garg AT wordsmith.org

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