The bureaucracy is torpid, state industries creaky and banks take a month to cash a cheque.

ECONOMIST: An Arab state slouches towards democracy

This change lends nothing to the film, a torpid version of a classic that is ultimately and unjustly devoid of passion.

NEWYORKER: Brideshead Revisited

Most of Seat's sales are in Spain, a country that saw car sales rise 10.8% despite the torpid state of its economy.

BBC: European car sales in first rise for 18 months

The torpid feline raised its huge head, yawned, and fixed the boat with a long, disinterested stare, eventually resuming his interrupted siesta.

BBC: Brazil��s land of the jaguar

This would have been weird, in that economic growth and its twin, employment, are the clear issues of choice in these years of torpid economic recovery.

FORBES: Inequality Is The Child Of Fiat Money

Sunni-Shiite rivalries -- not only in Iraq, but throughout the Muslim world -- have been a factor in the torpid pace of diplomatic relations between Iraq and the Arab world.

CNN: UAE may be first Arab nation to restore full ties with Iraq