torpidadj.n.
/ˈtɔːpɪd/, U.S. /ˈtɔrpəd/ A. adj.
1.
a. Benumbed; deprived or devoid of the power of motion or feeling; in which activity, animation, or development is suspended; dormant.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > inaction > [adjective]
undiscurrent1509
idlec1522
sleepinga1538
silent1583
unactive1599
passive1604
quiescent1605
torpid1613
quieta1616
inactive1641
actionless1645
slumbering1706
slumberous1809
non-acting1838
supine1843
the world > physical sensation > physical sensibility > physical insensibility > [adjective]
unfeelingc1000
dead?c1225
unwitlessc1225
insensiblec1400
unfeelablec1400
unfredeablec1450
insensate?1520
blatea1522
deaf?1527
unsensible1531
inanimatea1555
senseless1557
unsensate1561
sleeping1562
insensitive1610
unsensitive1610
torpid1613
inanimated1646
torpent1647
unperceptive1668
feelless1684
insentient1764
unsentient1768
sensationless1824
apathic1835
non-sensitive1836
zombie-like1932
zombie-esque1946
zomboid1963
zombied1972
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage i. v. 22 If he descend not lower, to become torpide and lifelesse.
1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy i. iii. iii. 264 Drinesse, which makes the nerues of the tongue torpid.
1785 W. Cowper Task iii. 468 When..November dark Checks vegetation in the torpid plant Expos'd to his cold breath.
1860 R. W. Emerson Fate in Conduct of Life (London ed.) 32 Some animals became torpid in winter, others were torpid in summer.
b. Pathology. Sluggish in action or function.
ΚΠ
1807 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 17 72 Complaints of phlegmatic and torpid constitutions.
1843 C. Scudamore Med. Visit Gräfenberg 41 Digestive functions torpid.
1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VIII. 477 Gout and tendency to torpid liver.
2. figurative. Wanting in animation or vigour; inactive; slow, sluggish; dull; stupefied; apathetic.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > inaction > disinclination to act or listlessness > [adjective]
unlustyc1225
sleepyc1384
phlegmatica1400
listlessc1440
owlist1440
unlisty1440
phlegmyc1450
sweyntc1450
supine1554
resty1565
unactive1591
sleepy-headed1600
log-like1602
inertious1611
stupefied?1611
lethargic1612
sedentary1625
torpent1647
torpid1656
torpulent1657
softly1664
inert1774
vegetative1789
spiritless1798
unenergetic1805
sloomy1820
slow-going1825
inenergetic1826
comatose1828
moony1847
mooning1864
torpid-minded1909
narcoleptic1965
vegged1986
the mind > emotion > absence of emotion > [adjective] > lacking emotional sensibility
unfeelingc1000
mis-feelinga1382
stonishc1450
unpainfulc1450
obtuse1509
sprightlessa1522
insensate1553
senseless1560
soulless1568
dull-esprited1591
impassible1592
bluntie1598
impenetrable1600
stockish1600
stolidc1600
incapable1601
stupid1605
tasteless1605
unsensitive1610
unexalted1611
insensible1617
unsensible1619
languid1622
immovable1639
dead-hearted1642
sterile1642
resupine1643
unaffectionate1645
iron-bound1648
resentlessa1649
torpid1656
torpulent1657
impassive1699
unreceptive1722
hebete1743
apathetic1744
stubbed1744
gustless1766
unresponsive1768
unsusceptible1779
tideless-blooded1786
unaffectioned1788
inaccessible1796
hebetudinous1820
unimpressible1828
insensitive1834
apathetical1835
non-sensitive1836
blunt-hearted1845
irreceptive1846
unreceptant1846
unimpressionable1847
anaesthetic1860
insentient1860
hard (also tough, sharp) as nails1862
unsqueamish1893
tone-deaf1894
unget-at-able1897
facty1901
zombie1937
pegamoid1957
the world > physical sensation > physical sensibility > physical insensibility > dullness of sense perception > [adjective] > physically stupefied
amazedOE
astoundc1315
stonieda1340
dareda1400
dazedc1400
stupefact?a1425
adasedc1450
dolda1500
dazinga1533
dazzling1571
stupid1571
fordulled1591
entranced1594
torpid1656
damp1667
stuporous1712
rammista1838
stuporose1879
dazy1880
sent1940
like a stunned mullet1953
1656 T. Blount Glossographia Torpid, slow, dull, drowzy, astonied.
a1676 M. Hale Primitive Originat. Mankind (1677) i. ii. 63 They [connatural principles] lye more torpid, and inactive, and inevident.
1703 R. Neve City & Countrey Purchaser 92 The Workmen are taken to be torpid Operators.
1764 O. Goldsmith Traveller 10 No vernal blooms their torpid rocks array.
1791 J. Boswell Life Johnson anno 1778 II. 205 [Johnson:] It is a man's own fault, it is from want of use, if his mind grows torpid in old age.
1834 T. B. Macaulay William Pitt in Ess. (1865) I. 293/2 To a small, a torpid, and an unfriendly audience.
1885 Dunckley in Manch. Weekly Times 7 Feb. 5/5 In the counties..the population is comparatively torpid and inert.
3. Causing torpidity; torporific. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > inaction > disinclination to act or listlessness > [adjective] > causing
leaden1579
stupefying1617
benumbing1628
bedulling1656
obstupefying1660
lethargic1718
sopient1804
torporizing1822
torporific1825
lethargizing1827
torpid1830
deadening1875
1830 J. G. Whittier Frost Spirit iv The Frost Spirit comes! and the quiet lake shall feel The torpid touch of his glazing breath, and ring to the skater's heel.
B. n.
1. At Oxford: (plural) The races rowed in Lent term in eight-oared clinker-built open boats: originally designating the boats; later also the crews.‘The “Torpid boats” were originally the second boats of a college, which until 1837 rowed with the “Eights”. They are understood to have started c1827, when Christ Church put a second boat on the river; but no record of the name has been found till 1838, when it was apparently well established. In that year, the Torpids were made a class by themselves, and raced in the days between the Eight-oared Races (which were not then continuous). In 1852 they were moved to the Lent Term, and reorganized on their present basis.’ (W. E. Sherwood.)
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > vessels propelled by oars or poles > [noun] > rowing boat > light or racing
boat1829
torpid1838
wager-boat1844
skiff1845
slogger1852
whiff1859
gig1865
best boat1866
shell1867
ship1878
sculling four1885
rum-tum1891
Togger1891
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > boat racing or race > [noun] > types of rowing race
torpid1838
bumping race1842
row-over1866
sculls1878
May1879
Lents1886
fours1891
getting-on race1892
row-off1893
re-row1901
tub-race1903
bumper1906
bump1923
bumps race1927
head race1953
society > travel > travel by water > one who travels by water or sea > sailor > types of sailor > [noun] > rower or oarsman > crew of specific college boat
torpid1838
1838 Trin. Coll. Boat Club Bk. It was determined at a meeting of Strokes that no Torpid should put on with the racing boats.
1839 Oxford Herald 31 May A race between the Torpids, or second crews, took place on Thursday Evening.
1839 O.U.B.C. President's Bk. [After the Chart of] The Eights [is one of] The Torpid Races.
1854 ‘C. Bede’ Further Adventures Mr. Verdant Green (ed. 2) vi. 54 The little gentleman..did not join with the ‘Torpids’ (as the second boats of a college are called).
1861 T. Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. II. xi. 202 The torpids being filled with the refuse of the rowing-men—generally awkward or very young oarsmen.
1866 Oxf. Undergraduates' Jrnl. 20 Brasenose went head in Torpids as well as Eights.
1869 ‘W. Bradwood’ The O.V.H. (1870) 4 He had..done two years hard duty in the college torpid.
1900 Inscription on Picture of Exeter White Boat in W. E. Sherwood Hist. Boat-racing Oxf. 44 Presented..by the Honourable John Joclyn, late of Exeter College, and stroke oar of the Torpid in 1827.
1910 Westm. Gaz. 24 Feb. 4/1 Oxford ‘Torpids’..were so named about 1827, when Christ Church staggered humanity by putting a second crew on the river.
2. At Harrow: see quots.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > learning > learner > one attending school > [noun] > pupil at specific school > types of pupil at Harrow
two-yearer1894
torpid1903
1903 J. S. Farmer & W. E. Henley Slang VII. ii. 169/2 Torpid (Harrow), a boy who has not been two years in the school.
1905 H. A. Vachell Hill ii. 39 Scaife expects us to be Torpids. [Note] Boys [at Harrow] who have not been more than two years in the school are eligible as ‘torpids’; out of each house a Torpid football eleven is chosen.
Compounds
a. of the adjective.
torpid-minded adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > inaction > disinclination to act or listlessness > [adjective]
unlustyc1225
sleepyc1384
phlegmatica1400
listlessc1440
owlist1440
unlisty1440
phlegmyc1450
sweyntc1450
supine1554
resty1565
unactive1591
sleepy-headed1600
log-like1602
inertious1611
stupefied?1611
lethargic1612
sedentary1625
torpent1647
torpid1656
torpulent1657
softly1664
inert1774
vegetative1789
spiritless1798
unenergetic1805
sloomy1820
slow-going1825
inenergetic1826
comatose1828
moony1847
mooning1864
torpid-minded1909
narcoleptic1965
vegged1986
the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > stupidity, dullness of intellect > [adjective]
sloweOE
stuntc960
dullOE
hardOE
stuntlyc1000
sotc1050
dillc1175
dulta1225
simplea1325
heavy1340
astonedc1374
sheepishc1380
dull-witteda1387
lourd1390
steerishc1411
ass-likea1425
brainless?a1439
deafc1440
sluggishc1450
short-witted1477
obtuse1509
peakish1519
wearish1519
deaf, or dumb as a beetle1520
doileda1522
gross1526
headlessa1530
stulty1532
ass-headed1533
pot-headed1533
stupid?1541
sheep's head1542
doltish1543
dumpish1545
assish1548
blockish1548
slow-witted1548
blockheaded1549
surd1551
dull-headed1552
hammer-headed1552
skit-brained?1553
buzzardly1561
witless1562
log-headeda1566
assy1566
sottish1566
dastardly1567
stupidious1567
beetle-headed1570
calvish1570
bluntish1578
cod's-headed1578
grout-headed1578
bedaft1579
dull-pated1580
blate1581
buzzard-like1581
long-eared1582
dullard1583
woodena1586
duncical1588
leaden-headed1589
buzzard1592
dorbellical1592
dunstical1592
heavy-headeda1593
shallow-brained1592
blunt-witted1594
mossy1597
Bœotian1598
clay-brained1598
fat1598
fat-witted1598
knotty-pated1598
stupidous1598
wit-lost1599
barren1600
duncifiedc1600
lourdish1600
stockish1600
thick1600
booby1603
leaden-pated1603
partless1603
thin-headed1603
leaden-skulledc1604
blockhead1606
frost-brained1606
ram-headed1608
beef-witted1609
insulse1609
leaden-spirited1609
asininec1610
clumse1611
blockheadly1612
wattle-headed1613
flata1616
logger-headeda1616
puppy-headeda1616
shallow-patedc1616
thick-brained1619
half-headed1621
buzzard-blinda1625
beef-brained1628
toom-headed1629
thick-witted1634
woollen-witted1635
squirrel-headed1637
clod-pated1639
lean-souled1639
muddy-headed1642
leaden-witteda1645
as sad as any mallet1645
under-headed1646
fat-headed1647
half-witted1647
insipid1651
insulsate1652
soft-headed1653
thick-skulleda1657
muddish1658
non-intelligent1659
whey-brained1660
sap-headed1665
timber-headed1666
leather-headeda1668
out of (one's) tree1669
boobily1673
thoughtless1673
lourdly1674
logger1675
unintelligenta1676
Bœotic1678
chicken-brained1678
under-witted1683
loggerhead1684
dunderheaded1692
unintelligible1694
buffle-headed1697
crassicc1700
numbskulled1707
crassous1708
doddy-polled1708
haggis-headed1715
niddy-noddy1722
muzzy1723
pudding-headed1726
sumphish1728
pitcher-souleda1739
duncey1743
hebete1743
chuckheaded1756
dumb1756
duncely1757
imbecile1766
mutton-headed1768
chuckle-headed1770
jobbernowl1770
dowfarta1774
boobyish1778
wittol1780
staumrel1787
opaquec1789
stoopid1791
mud-headed1793
borné1795
muzzy-headed1798
nog-headed1800
thick-headed1801
gypit1804
duncish1805
lightweight1809
numbskull1814
tup-headed1816
chuckle-pate1820
unintellectuala1821
dense1822
ninnyish1822
dunch1825
fozy1825
potato-headed1826
beef-headed1828
donkeyish1831
blockheadish1833
pinheaded1837
squirrel-minded1837
pumpkin-headed1838
tomfoolish1838
dundering1840
chicken-headed1842
like a bump on a log1842
ninny-minded1849
numbheadeda1852
nincompoopish1852
suet-brained1852
dolly1853
mullet-headed1853
sodden1853
fiddle-headed1854
numb1854
bovine1855
logy1859
crass1861
unsmart1861
off his chump1864
wooden-headed1865
stupe1866
lean-minded1867
duffing1869
cretinous1871
doddering1871
thick-head1873
doddling1874
stupido1879
boneheaded1883
woolly-headed1883
leaden-natured1889
suet-headed1890
sam-sodden1891
dopey1896
turnip-headed1898
bonehead1903
wool-witted1905
peanut-headed1906
peanut-brained1907
dilly1909
torpid-minded1909
retardate1912
nitwitted1917
meat-headed1918
mug1922
cloth-headed1925
loopy1925
nitwit1928
lame-brained1929
dead from the neck up1930
simpy1932
nail-headed1936
square-headed1936
dingbats1937
pinhead1939
dim-witted1940
pea-brained1942
clueless1943
lobotomized1943
retarded1949
pointy-headed1950
clottish1952
like a stunned mullet1953
silly (or crazy) as a two-bob watch1954
out to lunch1955
pin-brained1958
dozy1959
eejity1964
out of one's tiny mind1965
doofus1967
twitty1967
twittish1969
twatty1975
twattish1976
blur1977
dof1979
goofus1981
dickheaded1991
dickish1991
numpty1992
cockish1996
1909 Nation 18 Sept. 878/2 The average man..may be..less ignorant and torpid-minded than in the older countries.
b. of the noun.
Torpid eight n.
ΚΠ
1884 Pall Mall Gaz. 19 Feb. (Farmer) Twenty-six Torpid eights were out at Oxford in training for the races.
torpid-race n.
ΚΠ
1858 ‘M. Splene’ Almæ Matres 49 I see myself now..pulling for very life in the torpid-race.
Derivatives
ˈtorpidly adv. in a torpid manner.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > inaction > [adverb]
unactively1611
passively1643
inactively1732
quiescently1739
inertly1742
slumberously1816
torpidly1820
stagnantly1847
pathically1932
the world > physical sensation > physical sensibility > physical insensibility > [adverb]
unfeelinglyc1374
numbly1577
insensibly1584
torpidly1820
zombie-like1941
the world > action or operation > inaction > disinclination to act or listlessness > [adverb]
unlustilyc1390
supinely1605
supine1615
lethargically1633
unlustly1649
phlegmatically1673
phlegmaticly1673
listlessly1693
davielya1796
sloomy1820
torpidly1820
moonily1887
mooningly1893
the mind > emotion > calmness > unexcitability > [adverb] > in phlegmatic manner
spiritlessly1669
phlegmatically1673
phlegmaticly1673
torpidly1820
soggily1939
the world > physical sensation > physical sensibility > physical insensibility > dullness of sense perception > [adverb] > in a stupefied manner
dazedlya1400
dazzlingly1610
stupidly1652
intoxicatedly1797
torpidly1820
1820 C. R. Maturin Melmoth IV. xxv. 106 The aged father and mother, retreating torpidly to their seats.
1845 G. E. Day tr. J. F. Simon Animal Chem. I. 227 The torpidly circulating blood.
ˈtorpidness n. torpidity, torpor.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > physical sensibility > physical insensibility > [noun]
unfeelingness1398
insensibility?1510
senselessness1577
indolency1603
stupidity1603
unfeeling1603
torpidity1614
torpor1626
sleepiness1647
indolence1656
insensibleness1656
narcosis1671
torpidnessa1676
torpitude1713
anaesthesia1721
deadness1764
insentience1862
the world > action or operation > inaction > disinclination to act or listlessness > [noun]
accidiaOE
accidie?c1225
lethargyc1380
faintness1398
lithernessc1425
listlesshedec1440
owlisthead1440
supinity1548
lustlessness1556
benumbedness1566
phlegm1578
apoplexy1589
acedia1607
torpor1607
drowsiness1611
torpidity1614
languishmentc1620
hebetude1621
acedy1623
inerty1623
supineness1640
listlessness1646
cadaveriety1651
inertitude1656
oscitation1656
torpulency1657
sopor1658
phlegmaticness1659
lethargicalness1664
torpidnessa1676
faineantisea1684
phlegmatism1688
vis inertiae1710
torpitude1713
moonery1764
donothingness1814
benumbment1817
inertia1821
languor1825
donothingism1839
Mondayishness1850
mooniness1852
mooning1857
fainéantisme1873
sog1874
Oblomovism1902
a1676 M. Hale Primitive Originat. Mankind (1677) i. i. 3 It keeps it from rust and torpidness.
1831 E. J. Trelawny Adventures Younger Son I. xii. 91 A death-like torpidness came over me.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1913; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.1613