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Nov 12, 2019
This week’s theme
Misc. words

This week’s words
froward
listless
indolent
matronly
valorous

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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

listless

PRONUNCIATION:
(LIST-luhs, -lis)

MEANING:
adjective: Devoid of energy or enthusiasm.

ETYMOLOGY:
From list (desire, inclination), from Old English lystan (to be pleasing). Ultimately from the Indo-European root las- (to be eager), which also gave us lust. Earliest documented use: 1440.

USAGE:
“She grew froward -- by turns high-spirited and listless, voluble and dumb, doting and cynical.”
John Barth; Lost in the Funhouse; Doubleday; 1968.

See more usage examples of listless in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
To the artist there is never anything ugly in nature. -Auguste Rodin, sculptor (12 Nov 1840-1917)

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