Hot Words for the SAT (Lesson 14 - No Get Up or Go! - Words Relating to Lacking Energy or Movement)

lethargic

(adj.) having little or no energy (вялый) (Explanation: Being lethargic makes it hard to get anything done: you feel weak and sleepy. Whatever the reason, a lethargic person needs to snap out of it and get some energy, maybe by eating something or by taking a nap.) (Example: Williams, who said she was lethargic to start the match, summoned a doctor to the court at one point.)

sedentary

(adj.) having to do with sitting around a lot (сидячий) (Explanation: The word means sitting a lot and refers to a person or job that is not very physically active.) (Example: Scientists believe that one of the causes of the obesity epidemic sweeping the US is our sedentary lifestyle.)

torpid

(adj.) lacking energy; relating to inactivity; feeling sluggish (бездеятельный, вялый) (Explanation: While the adjective torpid sounds a lot like the noun torpedo, it actually describes something slow or even inactive. You might feel torpid sitting in front of the fire after a big meal.) (Example: The once quiet, torpid streets of Aden have been battered by mortar fire, snipers and artillery.)

stagnant

(adj.) lacking movement or energy (застойный) (Explanation: There is a tone to the word stagnant that sounds like what it is: lacking movement, stale, and inactive, especially with exaggerated pronunciation, "staaaagnant.") (Example: The still surface of stagnant pools and ponds encourage the growth of algae.)

indolent

(adj.) lazy; not wanting to do any work (ленивый) (Explanation: This kind of person is slow and lazy — not the type of person you'd want running your corporation or competing with you in a relay race.) (Example: After a couple of minutes he lifted his dark face, indolent dark eyes)

soporific

(adj.) sleep-inducing; sleepy (усыпляющий) (Explanation: Something that is soporific is sleep-inducing. Certain medicines, but also extreme coziness, can have a soporific effect.) (Example: It is said that the effect of eating too much lettuce is 'soporific'.)

sluggish

(adj.) slow and lazy (медленный) (Explanation: When you are feeling draggy — positively slug-like — you are sluggish, or slow. Just about anything can be sluggish. An old computer that takes forever to load a piece of software is sluggish, as is a car that can't quite make it up a big hill. And who isn't sluggish in the morning before the first cup of coffee?! Picture a slug moving its heavy little body across a basketball court... Still going? Yes. It will take that slug forever to get to the foul line at the sluggish pace it's moving.) (Example: According to our coach, a candy bar will keep you from being sluggish during practice.)

enervated

(adj.) tired; lacking energy; spent of energy; dissipated (изнемождённый) (Explanation: If someone feels enervated, this literally means that he is feeling drained of energy or vitality.) (Example: To a reasonable extent, energized and enervated are antonyms.)

languor

(n.) a weak or lifeless feeling (усталость) (Explanation: When you are sick or heartbroken and too tired to get out of bed, the listlessness you feel is called languor. The more commonly used word languish is closely related to languor. If you are languishing or becoming weaker, you are showing languor. Remember that languor implies a heaviness or slowness where there should be lightness or speed.) (Example: To prevent languor in the work-space, the employees do aerobics for five minutes every two hours.)

lassitude

(n.) tired feeling usually resulting from depression or too much work (вялость) (Explanation: This word means weariness you'd experience after attempting to run a marathon around the equator.) (Example: Overcome by lassitude, I sat on the porch all day and watched the grass grow.)