slack
1 Americanadjective
-
slacker,
comparative
-
slackest
superlative
-
not tight, taut, firm, or tense;
a slack rope.
- Synonyms:
- relaxed
-
slack proofreading.
- Synonyms:
- thoughtless, lazy, lax
-
slow, sluggish, or indolent.
He is slack in answering letters.
-
not active or busy; dull; not brisk.
the slack season in an industry.
-
moving very slowly, as the tide, wind, or water.
-
Phonetics. weak; lax.
-
Nautical. easy.
adverb
noun
-
a slack condition or part.
-
the part of a rope, sail, or the like, that hangs loose, without strain upon it.
-
a decrease in activity, as in business or work.
a sudden slack in output.
- Synonyms:
- relaxation
-
a period of decreased activity.
-
Geography. a cessation in a strong flow, as of a current at its turn.
-
a depression between hills, in a hillside, or in the land surface.
-
Prosody. (in sprung rhythm) the unaccented syllable or syllables.
-
British Dialect. a morass; marshy ground; a hollow or dell with soft, wet ground at the bottom.
verb (used with object)
-
slacks,
present (3rd person singular)
-
slacked,
past participle, past
-
slacking
present participle
-
to be remiss in respect to (some matter, duty, right, etc.); leave undone; shirk.
He slacked the most important part.
- Synonyms:
- neglect
-
to make or allow to become less active, vigorous, intense, etc.; relax (efforts, labor, speed, etc.); lessen; moderate (often followed byup ).
-
to make loose, or less tense or taut, as a rope; loosen (often followed by off orout ).
-
to slake (lime).
verb (used without object)
-
slacks,
present (3rd person singular)
-
slacked,
past participle, past
-
slacking
present participle
-
to be remiss; shirk one's duty or part.
- Synonyms:
- malinger
-
to become less active, vigorous, rapid, etc. (often followed byup ).
Business is slacking up.
-
to become less tense or taut, as a rope; to ease off.
-
to become slaked, as lime.
idioms
noun
adjective
-
not tight, tense, or taut
-
negligent or careless
-
(esp of water, etc) moving slowly
-
(of trade, etc) not busy
-
phonetics another term for lax
adverb
noun
-
a part of a rope, etc, that is slack
take in the slack
-
a period of decreased activity
-
-
a patch of water without current
-
a slackening of a current
-
-
prosody (in sprung rhythm) the unstressed syllable or syllables
verb
-
to neglect (one's duty, etc)
-
(often foll by off) to loosen; to make slack
-
chem a less common word for slake
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
slacksimple
-
slackssimple
-
have slackedperfect
-
has slackedperfect
-
am slackingprogressive
-
are slackingprogressive
-
is slackingprogressive
-
have been slackingperfect progressive
-
has been slackingperfect progressive
Past
-
slackedsimple
-
had slackedperfect
-
was slackingprogressive
-
were slackingprogressive
-
had been slackingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of slack1
First recorded before 900; Middle English adjective slak(e), slakke, Old English slæc, sleac; cognate with Old Norse slakr, Old High German slach, Latin laxus lax
Origin of slack2
First recorded in 1200–50; of uncertain origin; compare Middle English sleck “mud, slush, stony soil,” Flemish slecke, Middle Dutch slacke, slecke, Dutch slak, Low German slak(ke), German Schlacke “dross (of metal)”
Explanation
If you slow down at the end of a race, you slack off. When you use slack this way, it means to reduce your speed, to be sluggish, or to be negligent. If something is loose, it's also said to be slack. A clothesline, for example, is slack if it is just hanging loosely between two trees. If you pull the clothesline tight, you reduce the slack. The root word of slack is the Old English word slæc, which means "loose or careless." When you scold your friend for being careless about his responsibilities, you can say, "Pick up the slack!"
Vocabulary lists containing slack
The SAT: Multiple-Meaning Words, List 3
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The New SAT: Multiple-Meaning Words
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The ACT Reading Test: Multiple-Meaning Words, List 3
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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.
See Examples For:
The assumption was that community services would be strong enough to take up the slack.
From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2026
Refiners in Nigeria also picked up some of the slack.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026
Every veteran touring musician knows that the best way to snap the audience to attention is to stop singing during their biggest hit and invite the audience to take up the slack.
From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026
Of the economists surveyed, only Holt from Scotiabank said there would be a rate increase by the end of 2026, arguing that slack would be absorbed at a faster-than-expected pace.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
Pluto Noak unspooled more slack as he climbed up the slide.
From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell
In another writer’s hands, the soft-handed seat-fillers of his slacker masterpiece “Office Space” would be contemptible.
From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2026
The prototypical Gen Xer is resilient and cynical, a “latchkey kid” turned disaffected slacker, raised on MTV and limited parental supervision.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
Ellis, meanwhile, has a nearly 14-year-old son who is in what she calls a “teenage, hormonal place” — not that dissimilar to Emily, who has three slacker teenagers obsessed with video games.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 20, 2025
That realisation manifests in the lovestruck slacker rock of Dragonfly, and the finger-plucked Neptune Baby, with its refrain, "I'm a boat, and you are the water".
From BBC ● Apr. 27, 2025
Father: “I don’t know where you picked up that slacker attitude, but you certainly didn’t learn it at home. Probably from the bad influences up here.”
From "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson
The UK has the slackest regulation of all EU members; other member states are much more stringent in their approach.
From The Guardian ● May 24, 2013
It was the most abstract and highly changeable concert I’ve seen this group perform, and also the slackest: inspired on one level, frustrating on another.
From New York Times ● Feb. 10, 2011
In any year it would have been a tasteful, artful job of the soft sell, but in this, television's slackest season, the Eastern Airlines commercial looked like a masterwork.
From Time Magazine Archive
In the weeks before Christmas, when retail sales are usually at their highest, retailers were cutting prices as though it were slackest of seasons.
From Time Magazine Archive
Six of our best men give in rotation two hours a day to it at the time when work and the machines are slackest.
From The History of David Grieve by Mrs. Humphry Ward
He stopped by the birthday party wearing his work uniform: a white, button-down shirt and black slacks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
A styling group stores troves of neutral tone crew and V-neck sweaters, button-down shirts, slacks and extra pairs of the Silver Lining Opticians “Carbon” glasses at an off-site building, current and former employees said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 31, 2026
Eugene Levert, chain-smoking next to a stack of books while wearing a vertical blue-striped button-down and khaki slacks, looked the scholarly mirror of Doug Lamplugh, in a horizontal blue-striped polo and khaki shorts.
From Slate ● May 4, 2026
The Robles’ 76-year-old grandson, Louis Jr., is keeping track of today’s Christmas tree delivery from a folding chair, wearing horn-rim glasses, slacks and a white, open-neck dress shirt.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 18, 2025
She wore green Army slacks with a black stripe down the leg, a green Army shirt, and in the cold before sunrise she put on a black military sweater.
From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston
“No one slacked off at all. Everyone just came in and worked hard. They just played a lot better than us. They were hitting on everything. It wasn’t our year.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
As time elapsed, Sand’s rate of production never slacked.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
If teammates slacked off in practice after partying late, he’d shoot them extra hard puck passes.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 2, 2024
Speaking to the press, he said: "I've given my heart and soul. I can't think there'll be too many cricket fans out there who would think I've slacked off for a moment."
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2023
I’ve slacked off during the past week because of all the homework, the pageant practices, and the trip to Atlantic City.
From "Like Vanessa" by Tami Charles
If nothing is on the books, it could look like you’re slacking off.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
With her apartment a flood zone and her landlord slacking off on the maintenance, Linda and her daughter are forced to live at a nearby hotel.
From Salon ● Oct. 9, 2025
Due to a slowing economy and slacking advertising revenue, newsrooms have been slashed across the industry.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 15, 2023
Almost across the board, inflation showed few signs of slacking.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2022
It’s crazy, but instead of that whole experience pushing me to train even harder, I began slacking off in practice.
From "Courage to Soar" by Simone Biles
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
