I was listening to some gentle, slow, emotionally warm music by Aaron Copland, and I thought of the word "languid" to describe it. But I wasn't sure of what languid means, so I looked it up, and it mostly means lethargic, lazy, lacking energy, and other somewhat negative associations. It also can mean "slow" but that was almost the only neutral synonym.
This music on the other hand is relaxed in a delicious way. It's "low-energy" in the best sense: like a slow massage.
In fact, the word "languid" is onomatopoeic, at least with respect to this music. It feels like I'm savoring the syllables as I say it. It doesn't "sound" like bored and lazy to me.
Then I looked up "languorous" and it has mostly negative connotations as well, like "depressed." Although one example sentence was "languorous cats lying around in the sun" which would fit this music, assuming the cats are enjoying themselves.
So I am wondering if "languid" can be used in this positive sense I want to give it, or if there would be a similar word that can.
Best Answer
Yes, languid can be used in a positive sense, but not in the world of work, striving to get ahead and multi-tasking. Nor is languid positive if you want six-pack abs or to climb Everest. However, a skier so expert as to seem to expend no effort might be described as having an "almost languid grace". Languid is for long summer days; languid can also be used for music, as the OP said -- see example sentence with link below.
For a positive usage of languid from a first-rate author, see Typee by Herman Melville. (A longer excerpt is given here.)
Languid in Oxford Dictionaries