Both Uses of
torpid
in
Catch-22
- It was the first really good laugh Captain Black had enjoyed since the day Major Major outsmarted him and was appointed squadron commander, and he rose with torpid enthusiasm and stationed himself behind the front counter in order to wring the most enjoyment from the occasion when the bombardiers arrived for their map kits.†
Chpt 11 *
- Nately was unnerved by her torpid indifference to him, by the same sleepy and inert poise that he remembered so vivdly, so sweetly, and so miserably from the first time she had seen him and ignored him at the packed penny-ante blackjack game in the living room of the enlisted men's apartment.†
Chpt 23
Definition:
-
(torpid) of people: slow or inactive -- usually resulting from a lack of energy and interest
or:
of animals: a condition of biological rest or suspended animation -- (could be in the evening, during the cold, or as in a hibernated or dormant state all winter)