different between lackluster vs listless

English

Alternative forms

• lacklustre (UK & Commonwealth)

Etymology

From lack +? luster.

Pronunciation

Adjective

lackluster (comparative more lackluster, superlative most lackluster) (American spelling)

1. Lacking brilliance or intelligence.
2. Having no shine or lustre; dull.
   • 1885, William Dean Howells, The Rise of Silas Lapham, New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1961, Chapter XIX, p. 273,

     He sat looking at her with lack-lustre eyes. The light suddenly came back into them.

3. Not exceptional; not worthy of special merit, attention, or interest; having no vitality.

   The actor gave a lackluster performance in his latest film.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:bore

Translations

Noun

lackluster (countable and uncountable, plural lacklusters) (American spelling)

1. (uncountable) Lack of brightness or points of interest.
2. (countable) A person or thing of no particular brilliance or intelligence.

Anagrams

• lack-lustre, lacklustre

English

Etymology

From Middle English lystles, equivalent to list (“desire”) +? -less. Compare Dutch lusteloos (“lethargic, listless”). Doublet of lustless.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?l?stl?s/

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.”

Derived terms

• listlessly
• listlessness

Translations

Anagrams

• slitless