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Webster 1913 Edition


Listless

List′less

,
Adj.
[OE.
listles
,
lustles
. See
Lust
.]
Having no desire or inclination; indifferent; heedless; spiritless.
“ A listless unconcern.”
Thomson.
Benumbed with cold, and
listless
of their gain.
Dryden.
List′less-ly
,
adv.
List′less-ness
,
Noun.

Webster 1828 Edition


Listless

LIST'LESS

,
Adj.
Not listening; not attending; indifferent to what is passing; heedless; inattentive; thoughtless; careless; as a listless hearer or spectator.

Definition 2024


listless

listless

English

Adjective

listless (comparative more listless, superlative most listless)

  1. Lacking energy, enthusiasm, or liveliness.
    • 1818, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Frankenstein, ch. 18:
      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.
    • 1861, Charlotte M. Yonge, The Stokesley Secret, ch. 6:
      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!
    • 1901, William Somerset Maugham, The Hero, ch. 21:
      The scene with Mrs. Wallace had broken his spirit, and he was listless now, indifferent to what happened.
    • 2005 Nov. 29, Aryn Baker, "John Hardy: Bali Guy," Time:
      Listless, inattentive, distracted,” he recited. “A daydreamer. Tries his best, but is too slow.”

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