listless

From Middle English lystles, equivalent to list (“desire”) +‎ -less.^[1] Compare German lustlos and Dutch lusteloos (“lethargic, listless”). Doublet of lustless.

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɪstlɪs/, /ˈlɪstləs/

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listless (comparative more listless, superlative most listless)

1. Lacking energy, enthusiasm, or liveliness.

   Synonyms: languid, spiritless; see also Thesaurus:apathetic

   • 1816 June – 1817 April/May (date written), [Mary Shelley], chapter I, in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. […], volume III, London: […] [Macdonald and Son] for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, published 1 January 1818, →OCLC, pages 2–3:

     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, chapter 6, in The Stokesley Secret:

     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, chapter 21, in The Hero:

     The scene with Mrs. Wallace had broken his spirit, and he was listless now, indifferent to what happened.

   • 2005 November 29, Aryn Baker, “John Hardy: Bali Guy”, in Time:

     “Listless, inattentive, distracted,” he recited. “A daydreamer. Tries his best, but is too slow.”

• slitless