slow
adjEtymology
From Middle English slaw, slow, from Old English slāw (“lazy; inert, slow”), from Proto-West Germanic *slaiw, from Proto-Germanic *slaiwaz (“blunt; dull; exhausted, faint, sluggish, weak, weary; listless, torpid; dim-witted, slow; lazy, slack”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *sleyH-u- (“bad”). Cognates Cognate with Dutch slee, sleeuw (“cramped, stiff; blunt; sour”), Danish sløv (“blunt; dull; apathetic, lethargic, listless, sluggish, torpid; drowsy”), Icelandic sljór (“dim-witted; blunt; jaded”), Norwegian Nynorsk sljo, slø, sløv (“blunt; weak; lazy”), Swedish slö (“dull; lazy, lethargic, slow, sluggish”).
- derived from *(s)leyH-✻
- inherited from *slaiwaz✻ — “blunt; dull; exhausted, faint, sluggish, weak, weary; listless, torpid; dim-witted, slow; lazy, slack”
- inherited from *slaiw✻
- inherited from slaw
Definitions
Taking a long time to move or go a short distance, or to perform an action
Taking a long time to move or go a short distance, or to perform an action; not quick in motion; proceeding at a low speed.
- a slow train; a slow computer
- Turkey should always be cooked in a slow oven.
Not happening in a short time
Not happening in a short time; spread over a comparatively long time.
- Theſe changes in the Heav’ns, though ſlow, produc’d / Like change on Sea and Land, ſideral blaſt, / Vapour, and Miſt, and Exhalation hot, / Corrupt and Peſtilent: […]
- Similar studies of rats have employed four different intracranial resorbable, slow sustained release systems—surgical foam, a thermal gel depot, a microcapsule or biodegradable polymer beads.
- As of the current patch, Luke’s crouching Medium Punch has been nerfed. It will now have a larger hurtbox, in addition to having a slower recovery when the attack misses.
Of reduced intellectual capacity
Of reduced intellectual capacity; not quick to comprehend.
- Experienced classroom teachers are well acquainted with the attention-seeker, the shy girl, the aggressive boy, the poor concentrator, the slow student,[…]
- Hey, don't yell at Homer, just because he's a little slow.
›+ 10 more definitionsshow fewer
Not hasty
Not hasty; not tending to hurry; acting with deliberation or caution.
- He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding.
- And even after the emotional cast comes off, we need to be slow about getting deeply involved in a relationship again.
Behind in time
Behind in time; indicating a time earlier than the true time.
- That clock is slow.
Lacking spirit
Lacking spirit; deficient in liveliness or briskness.
Not busy
Not busy; lacking activity.
- It was a slow news day, so the editor asked us to make our articles wordier.
- I'm just sitting here with a desk of cards, enjoying a slow afternoon.
To make (something) run, move, etc. less quickly
To make (something) run, move, etc. less quickly; to reduce the speed of.
- slow the process
To keep from going quickly
To keep from going quickly; to hinder the progress of.
- slow the traffic
To become slow
To become slow; to slacken in speed; to decelerate.
- After about a minute, the creek bed vomited the debris into a gently sloped meadow. Saugstad felt the snow slow and tried to keep her hands in front of her.
Someone who is slow
Someone who is slow; a sluggard.
A slow song.
Slowly.
- That clock is running slow.
- I want to dance with you nice and slow.
- Let him have time to mark how slow time goes / In time of sorrow.
The neighborhood
- synonymmoderate
- synonymgradual
- synonymstupid
- synonymcareful
- synonymdeliberate
- synonymprudent
- synonymcautious
- synonymdilatory
- synonymdull
- synonyminactive
- synonymtardy
- synonymslothful
- antonymfastantonym(s) of
- antonymquick
- antonymrapid
- antonymswift
- antonymspeedy
- antonymabruptantonym(s) of
- antonymsudden
- antonymkeenantonym(s) of
- antonymquick-witted
- antonymintelligent
- antonymhastyantonym(s) of
- antonymprecipitate
- neighbormove slowly
- neighborforslow
Derived
digital slow motion, dog slow, go-slow, hyperslow, infraslow, overslow, slofie, Sloman, slo-mo, sloth, slow-acting, slow and steady wins the race, Slowaris, slow as a snail, slow as Christmas, slow as molasses, slow as molasses in January, slowass, slow as tar, slowback, slowbalization, slow ball, slowball, slow-belly, slow belly, slow boil, slow bowler, slow burn, slow burner, slow-burning, slow but sure wins the race, slow clap, slowcoach, slow contact, slow-cook, slow cooker, slowcore, slow dance, slowdown, slow earthquake · +61 more
Vish — recursive loop
A definitional loop anchored at slow. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.
A definitional loop anchored at slow. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.
7 hops · closes at slow
curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA