What's the difference between languish and linger?

Languish


Definition:

  • (v. i.) To become languid or weak; to lose strength or animation; to be or become dull, feeble or spiritless; to pine away; to wither or fade.
  • (v. i.) To assume an expression of weariness or tender grief, appealing for sympathy.
  • (v. i.) To cause to droop or pine.
  • (n.) See Languishiment.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) While it is true that Clinton’s favorability rating is languishing among all voters, her favorability among Democrats is as robust as Biden’s, at nearly 75% .
  • (2) But life is very difficult now.” Urmani motions to the river opposite, languishing green and motionless.
  • (3) For decades it languished all but forgotten, save for Hollywood using its storm drains in films such as Grease and Terminator 2 .
  • (4) He had a lot more fire in him than I think that I’ve seen.” Bush has nonetheless found himself spiraling from a once-presumed nominee to languishing in single-digits, as his former ally Marco Rubio has risen as a viable alternative for the Republican establishment.
  • (5) China remains a key challenge for Nokia, with its market share languishing at 3.5%.
  • (6) We are continuing to see heart wrenching reports of sexual abuse and assault, self-harm and hopelessness of refugees detained on Nauru and Manus Island with over 2,000 people left to languish in detention,” Szoke said.
  • (7) We've said, in relation to young people, we shouldn't be letting them languish out of work.
  • (8) He spent a lot of the year languishing outside the top 10, failing to beat any of the players above him, and in November he suffered a humiliating 6-0, 6-1 defeat to Federer in front of a London crowd at the 02 Arena.
  • (9) Read more If Africa continued missing out on the full benefits of its mineral wealth by exporting its resources in their raw or semi-raw form, said Mugabe, people would remain unemployed and languishing “in extreme poverty”.
  • (10) A decade ago, Glasgow languished as " the murder capital of western Europe ", with rates of knife crime and homicide more than double those in London, but its homicide rate has fallen by a third since the early 2000s, and violent crime is also decreasing.
  • (11) Schools languished too long in that situation, and that’s one reason why the Labour party first brought in the academy model: to help such schools.
  • (12) Holland, who are languishing in fourth in Iceland’s qualifying group, have 1,138,860.
  • (13) One example: over three days last week we tried to find a scarce bed for a mentally ill and highly distressed 17-year-old languishing for far too many hours in an A&E department.
  • (14) Now, millions of working people who would otherwise be languishing in abject poverty depend on these tax credits.
  • (15) Perhaps he had thousands of works by forgotten artists he couldn't sell languishing in storerooms.
  • (16) She said as prime minster, she had achieved major reforms that had languished under Rudd, including putting a price on carbon, a tax on the mining and resources industry, a national broadband network and health reform.
  • (17) Her gladiatorial, win-every-day, with-us-or-against-us style was aimed at one thing: dragging the Coalition’s primary vote up from where it was languishing at the time, 35%.
  • (18) It is unconscionable that she languished in prison for years while those allegedly implicated by the information she revealed still haven’t been brought to justice.” But the commutation was condemned by leading Republicans.
  • (19) After languishing in third place for much of the campaign , the Liberals, led by Justin Trudeau - son of former prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau - seem set to return to power.
  • (20) He didn’t languish in movie jail like Mickey Rourke; he didn’t fall off the map for a decade like Dennis Hopper.

Linger


Definition:

  • (a.) To delay; to loiter; to remain or wait long; to be slow or reluctant in parting or moving; to be slow in deciding; to be in suspense; to hesitate.
  • (v. t.) To protract; to draw out.
  • (v. t.) To spend or pass in a lingering manner; -- with out; as, to linger out one's days on a sick bed.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Play Video 6:52 Prime minister Theresa May calls general election for 8 June – full video statement If May wins a large Commons majority, the lingering hope that Britain will change its mind will be dashed.
  • (2) And yet, the spirit of '68 endures, perhaps mythical, perhaps as a lingering sense of the possibilities that mass activism once had.
  • (3) He pointed out that the eighth amendment of the US constitution “prohibits the unnecessary and wanton infliction of pain through torture, barbarous methods, or methods resulting in a lingering death”.
  • (4) But in the minds of many Israelis, they continue to linger.
  • (5) When, in stoppage time, the 33-year-old striker swept a first-time shot home any lingering Villa optimism was extinguished.
  • (6) So our lingering affection for the cross is entirely symbolic.
  • (7) What Katrina left behind: New Orleans' uneven recovery and unending divisions Read more Ten years on, resentment still lingers about the failure of the federal levee system during hurricane Katrina, the botched response of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), and the long and difficult process of accessing billions of dollars in grant money for rebuilding, which for some people is not finished.
  • (8) And that has more lingering, long-term consequences for the public finances.
  • (9) The exception actually lies with those who have had Ebola and recovered: studies suggest the virus can linger in semen for up to three months after recovery – so you may wish to think twice before having sex.
  • (10) Despite a lingering belief that they could have "gone in" with Labour if they had wanted to, the Lib Dems decided to abide responsibly by the logic of FPTP, and form a government that nobody had voted for at all.
  • (11) Olivier Blanchard, IMF director of research, said: “New factors supporting growth – lower oil prices, but also depreciation of euro and yen – are more than offset by persistent negative forces, including the lingering legacies of the crisis and lower potential growth in many countries”.
  • (12) But he will surely need help from elsewhere if Argentina are to linger deep into this competition.
  • (13) Our method of testing detects no lingering or permanent change after a single concussion.
  • (14) The study, aimed at examining lingering problems of veterans returning from both conflicts, also called into question a Defense Department policy which bans restricting access to private weapons "even if a service member is at risk from suicide".
  • (15) Between the 10-year projection of a half million FTE nursing shortage, astronomical medical care costs and a lingering recession, nursing administrators have no option but to make difficult choices in resource allocation.
  • (16) There may be lingering doubts over whether Meryl Streep , Viola Davis or outside bet Rooney Mara will claim the Academy Award for best actress later this month, and no-one is absolutely certain if Jean Dujardin , George Clooney or Gary Oldman will be picking up the equivalent male gong at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood.
  • (17) Her wonderful shop will remain open, and her presence will linger there as long as it does.
  • (18) Photograph: Courtesy of the family It’s been over a month since Fátima Avelica watched Ice agents, wearing uniforms stamped “POLICE”, handcuff and arrest her father, and the pain of that moment still lingers.
  • (19) Numbers showing weak wage growth as inflation edges up will provide traction for Labour's election campaign around lingering cost-of-living crisis.
  • (20) Writing in the Guardian , Mikhail Prokhorov, 46, said Russia was "undergoing a true awakening" – while warning of a lingering threat of violence as opposition leaders plan a new mass demonstration against the rule of Putin, the prime minister, on 4 February.