different between lacklustre vs listless

English

Etymology

lack +? lustre

Adjective

lacklustre (comparative more lacklustre, superlative most lacklustre)

1. (British) Alternative spelling of lackluster

Noun

lacklustre (countable and uncountable, plural lacklustres)

1. (British) Alternative spelling of lackluster
   • 1990, The Nigerian Economist (volume 4, page lxxii)

     Secondly, the fear of offending the military has reduced the campaigns to mere lacklustres. Promises are reeled off with so much obvious lack of passion that it is quite possible the party bosses themselves hardly believe what they say […]

Anagrams

• lackluster

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