Lukewarm Meaning

/ˌluːkˈwɔːm/
C1

Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

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adjBetween warm and cool.

adjUnenthusiastic (about a proposal or an idea).

Unfortunately, the soup is only lukewarm.
The water is lukewarm.
Mary likes her coffee steaming hot, while Tom likes his lukewarm.
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
After waiting for hours, the bath water was only disappointingly ____, not hot enough for a relaxing soak.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The coffee was only ____ by the time I finally got around to drinking it, which was quite disappointing.

Etymology tree Middle English leuk Proto-Germanic *warmaz Proto-West Germanic *warm Old English wearm Middle English warm Middle English leukwarm English lukewarm From Middle English leukwarm, lukewarm (“lukewarm, tepid”), equivalent to luke (“lukewarm”) + warm. Compare Saterland Frisian luukwoarm (“lukewarm”), German Low German luukwarm (“lukewarm”); first element is related to Dutch leuk (“lukewarm”), as in leukwater (“lukewarm water”). Compare also West Frisian lijwarm (“lukewarm”), Afrikaans louwarm (“lukewarm”), German Low German lowarm, luwarm (“lukewarm”), German lauwarm (“lukewarm”). First element believed to be an alteration of Middle English lew (“tepid”) (> English dialectal lew), from Old English *hlēowe (“warm, sunny”), from Proto-Germanic *hliwjaz, *hlēwaz, *hlūmaz, *hleumaz (“warm”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱal(w)e-, *ḱel(w)e-, *k(')lēw- (“warm, hot”). Cognate with Dutch lauw (“tepid”), German lau (“lukewarm”), Faroese lýggjur (“warm”), Swedish ljum (“lukewarm”), ljummen (“lukewarm”) and ly (“warm”), Danish lummer (“muggy”), Danish and Norwegian lunken (“tepid”), dialectal Swedish ljummen (“lukewarm”).

"The skipper Mr. Cooke had hired at Far Harbor was a God-fearing man with a luke warm interest in his new billet and employer, and had only been prevailed upon to take charge of the yacht after the offer of an emolument equal to half a year's sea pay of an ensign in the navy." — 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter X, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
"The centre-vestibule "open" type of coach, which met with a very lukewarm reception when first introduced over half-a-century ago, is now used in increasing numbers as a non-dining vehicle." — 1957 July 26, D. S. M. Barrie, “Sixty Years of British Express Trains”, in Railway Magazine, page 457:

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CEFR Practice Quiz
After waiting for hours, the bath water was only disappointingly ____, not hot enough for a relaxing soak.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The coffee was only ____ by the time I finally got around to drinking it, which was quite disappointing.

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