laggard
Americannoun
adjective
noun
-
a person who lags behind
-
a dawdler or straggler
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of laggard
Explanation
Hey pokey! Yeah you, Mr. Slow Pants. Quit your dawdling! This is no time to be a laggard, or someone who's always lagging behind. So who was the bigger laggard — the tortoise or the hare? Well that turtle sure was slow moving, but at least he continued at a steady pace. The hare was speedy, but took more time than necessary, goofing around and falling behind. It's a tough call, and one that the literary community has totally been dragging their feet on. What a bunch of laggards!
Vocabulary lists containing laggard
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
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Languor Management: Synonyms for "Lazy"
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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.
“Now they not only lack creativity and innovation in Los Angeles, but compared to other city governments, they’re laggard in implementing new ideas.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2026
JPMorgan in 2005 was a laggard compared with its peers; today, it is the most profitable of all the big banks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026
He’s not ready to outright recommend the stock, but he no longer thinks it will be an laggard.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 19, 2026
The company, long seen as an AI laggard, launched its personal AI agent Muse earlier this month.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026
He was less often a laggard, less often beaten, more often a snitch.
From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
