a drag

1. A tedious experience, a bore, as in After several thousand times, signing your autograph can be a drag. This seemingly modern term was army slang during the Civil War. The allusion probably is to drag as something that impedes progress. [Colloquial; mid-1800s]

Example Sentences

The city’s troubled office market has been a drag for Hang Seng.

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One significant outlay has continued to be a drag on USTAF’s finances.

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And fixed-rate loans that were a drag when rates were rising become an advantage as they fall.

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In 2006, after she released an album of pop and jazz standards, Lauper appeared in “The Threepenny Opera” on Broadway; seven years later, “Kinky Boots” — about a drag queen who saves a struggling shoe factory — won six Tony Awards including best musical and best original score.

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The Doge-directed layoffs and programme cuts were largely unpopular, according to public-opinion surveys, causing a drag on the president's approval ratings.

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