As I said last week, besides being a wonderful read, Jane Eyre has given me plenty of vocabulary words to learn about!
In the middle of the novel, Jane takes a position as a teacher for a rural school. Upon first meeting her students, Jane says about them:
Wholly untaught, with faculties quite torpid, they seemed to me hopelessly dull.
Don’t judge Jane for saying this; she learns, with time, how capable her students really are.
Now, let’s learn something too!
torpid \’tȯr-pəd\ adj, from Latin torpidus, torpere to be stiff or numb; having lost motion or power of exertion; sluggish in acting or functioning
Word Nerd Workout
Use torpid in a sentence. My example:
- The dose of NyQuil quickly rendered my mind torpid and useless for finishing the edits.
Your turn! Leave a sentence in the reply section below. This one’s tough, isn’t it?
Other Word Nerdy Words
Ah, the curse of growing up with a British doctor father and the diagnosis of torpid livers. And, come to think of it, my poor children who grew up not being understood sometimes. Chloe, even now 3rd year university comes home and says she had to “dumb down” for her friends. Lol. Oh well, a good vocabulary never hurt anyone. 🙂
Veronica, thanks for stopping by! Yes, my children, big readers and children of a word nerd, also are developing good vocabulary and get some “huh?” from their friends. I used to try not to use big words with them, but I’ve decided that they need to learn. Hmm. A torpid liver. That doesn’t sound good…
After several long flights from Nairobi back to Atlanta, I was feeling rather torpid. The McDonald’s I ate for dinner didn’t help.
I bet you were feeling torpid- nothing like a 26 hour journey to render your mind dull, sluggish! Great sentence!
As the emergency vehicles had pulled out of the drive, Marcia felt her adrenaline levels plummet leaving her in such a torpid state as to wonder if the task of tea-making would be too demanding.
Ohh, very good Lara. You’ve thought of another good situation in which one feels sluggish.
Your new site is beautiful! And I had just added you to my blog’s “recommended reading” list last night. Off to go change the URL!
Linda 🙂
Wow, Linda, thank you! I’m honored to make your recommended reading list- sorry to add a bit of work.
The new site looks great, Julia!
Interesting word. I’ve seen it lots but I didn’t really understand what it means because, I think, it’s most often used metaphorically to speak about a state of mind. So, not metaphorically, I did Level 2 of the 30 Day Shred for the first time last night and woke this morning with torpid back muscles.
Thanks Joy- I know what you mean about the “metaphysical state of mind”, but, according to the definition, I think your sentence works.
Hope you feel better!
Vapid! Torpid! So much goodness in one quick blog post 🙂
His vapid conversation left my libido torpid, despite his ridiculous good looks.
Love it! Thanks Melanie!
I’m still loving the new look, Julia 🙂 and Jane? Haven’t thought about her since high school!
The barrage of election advertisements left me torpid and in need of a vacation.
Thanks- I’m glad you like it! And I’m totally with you on the election ads!