stagnate
Americanverb (used without object)
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to cease to run or flow, as water, air, etc.
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to be or become stale or foul from standing, as a pool of water.
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to stop developing, growing, progressing, or advancing.
My mind is stagnating from too much TV.
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to be or become sluggish and dull.
When the leading lady left, the show started to stagnate.
verb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of stagnate
1660–70; < Latin stāgnātus (past participle of stāgnāre ), equivalent to stāgn ( um ) pool of standing water + -ātus -ate 1
Explanation
If after high school you choose to live in your parents' house, keep the same job, and spend time with the same friends, your mother might worry that you've decided to stagnate, or stop moving forward. When water stagnates, it stops moving and then sometimes begins to smell bad and attract mosquitoes. Think of a marshy pond or an old puddle. Similarly in the figurative sense, when the economy or society stagnates, it doesn't just sit still, it loses momentum. The word carries with it a negative connotation as something that stagnates really should be moving.
Vocabulary lists containing stagnate
"A Sound of Thunder" by Ray Bradbury
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Still, with growth heavily reliant on exports—particularly electronics and AI-related products—analysts warn of an uneven “K-shaped” economy, where the tech sector outperforms while other industries stagnate and consumers face rising costs.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 1, 2026
As I have written elsewhere, this was the pivotal decade when American culture began to stagnate.
From Salon • Apr. 19, 2026
The increase in underwater homeowners comes as home sales continue to stagnate while the housing market remains unaffordable to most Americans.
From MarketWatch • Feb. 9, 2026
Markets are currently in a December funk, with what is historically one of the best months for markets instead seeing the S&P 500 stagnate.
From Barron's • Dec. 22, 2025
Without standardized materials and methods, they worried that the field of tissue culture would stagnate.
From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
