lethargic
sluggish or drowsily inactive
Roots
- erg: work, action, or activity
- Lethe / leth: forgetfulness or oblivion
Other words with the erg root
- energy: power for action or work
Lethargic joins the Lethe forgetfulness image with idleness: the mind and body feel slow, dull, and hard to rouse.
After three nights of poor sleep, he felt too lethargic to read carefully.
Lethargic is deeper than lazy. The older history runs through forgetfulness and inactivity, so the modern feeling is foggy: energy is low, motion is slow, and attention keeps sinking.