different between mechanical vs listless

English

Etymology

From Middle English mechanical, mechanicalle, mechanycalle, equivalent to mechanic +? -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /m??kæn?k(?)l/

Adjective

mechanical (comparative more mechanical, superlative most mechanical)

1. (now rare) Characteristic of someone who does manual labour for a living; coarse, vulgar.
2. Related to mechanics (the branch of physics that deals with forces acting on mass).

3. Related to mechanics (the design and construction of machines).

4. Done by machine.

5. Using mechanics (the design and construction of machines): being a machine.

6. As if performed by a machine: lifeless or mindless.

7. (of a person) Acting as if one were a machine: lifeless or mindless.
8. (informal) Handy with machines.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Noun

mechanical (plural mechanicals)

1. (advertising) Manually created layout of artwork that is camera ready for photographic reproduction.
   • 2009, New York State Sales and Use Tax Law and Regulations

     In order to produce the posters, the advertising agency purchases photographs, composition and artwork and fabricates such property to produce layouts and mechanicals.

2. One who does manual labor, especially one who is similar to Shakespeare's rude mechanicals
3. (science fiction) A robot or mechanical creature.
4. (engineering) A mechanical engineer.
5. (cycling) An instance of equipment failure.
6. (music) A stop on an organ that is operated by a hand or foot control rather than having to be manually set up in advance.
7. (archaic) A machine that performs a job typically accomplished using an animal or manual labor.

Synonyms

• (camera-ready artwork): pasteup

Further reading

• "mechanical" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 201.

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