slack

[ slak ]

/ slæk /

|||

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR slack ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

not tight, taut, firm, or tense; loose: a slack rope.

negligent; careless; remiss: slack proofreading.

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.

weak; lax.

Nautical. easy(def 15a).

adverb

in a slack manner.

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.

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)

to be remiss in respect to (some matter, duty, right, etc.); shirk; leave undone: He slacked the most important part.

to make or allow to become less active, vigorous, intense, etc.; relax (efforts, labor, speed, etc.); lessen; moderate (often followed by up).

to make loose, or less tense or taut, as a rope; loosen (often followed by off or out).

to slake (lime).

verb (used without object)

to be remiss; shirk one's duty or part.

to become less active, vigorous, rapid, etc. (often followed by up): Business is slacking up.

to become less tense or taut, as a rope; to ease off.

to become slaked, as lime.

Nearby words

slab top, slab track, slab-sided, slabber, slabbery, slack, slack off, slack suit, slack water, slack-baked, slack-jawed

Idioms

take up the slack,

to pull in or make taut a loose section of a rope, line, wire, etc.: Take up the slack before releasing the kite.
to provide or compensate for something that is missing or incomplete: New sources of oil will take up the slack resulting from the embargo.

Origin of slack

before 900; Middle English slac (adj.), Old English sleac, slæc; cognate with Old Norse slakr, Old High German slach, Latin laxus lax

SYNONYMS FOR slack

1 relaxed.

2 lazy, weak.

3 dilatory, tardy, late.

4 idle, quiet.

11 slowing, relaxation.

17 neglect.

18 reduce, slacken.

21 malinger.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR slack ON THESAURUS.COM

Related forms

slack·ing·ly, adverbslack·ly, adverbslack·ness, nounun·slacked, adjective

un·slack·ing, adjective

Definition for slack (2 of 2)

slack

[ slak ]

/ slæk /

noun

the fine screenings of coal.

Origin of slack

1400–50; late Middle English sleck < Middle Dutch slacke, slecke

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for slack

He knew I was a Chicago guy, and he cut me absolutely no slack.
Bill Murray’s Words of Wisdom: On Comedy, the Greatness of In-N-Out, and Searching For Great Love|Marlow Stern|October 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
To the contrary: since the 2011 ouster of Gaddafi, the world has cut Libya a lot of slack.
It’s Not the USA that Made Libya the Disaster it is Today|Ann Marlowe|August 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Other women can often be the worst at cutting any slack towards the love interest in a sex scandal.
How Monica Lewinsky Changed the Media|Tina Brown|May 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But other Sunbelt locales, notably Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma have picked up much of the slack.
Forget What the Pundits Tell You, Coastal Cities are Old News - it’s the Sunbelt that’s Booming|Joel Kotkin|March 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST

The second glitch came a few hours after that, when some of the cables used to pull the ship upright started to slack.
The Raising of the Concordia|Barbie Latza Nadeau|September 17, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Another may be slack and anarchical in his technique though quite conventional in his thought.
Euripedes and His Age|Gilbert Murray
A sort of mysterious quiet hung about her; every rope was hauled taut, made fast, and the slack neatly coiled.
Equatorial America|Maturin M. Ballou
Ayllon had the necklace with him in the slack of his doublet.
The Trail Book|Mary Austin
Rolf leaped over the first, but the second sprang, caught him by the slack of the trouser leg, and hung on.
Rolf In The Woods|Ernest Thompson Seton
The sheet, freed from all strain, was borne down by its own weight, until the slack of it dipped in the water.
The Simpkins Plot|George A. Birmingham

British Dictionary definitions for slack (1 of 2)

slack

/ (slæk) /

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 (def. 4)

adverb

in a slack manner

noun

a part of a rope, etc, that is slacktake 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 (def. 3)

Derived Forms

slackly, adverbslackness, noun

Word Origin for slack

Old English slæc, sleac; related to Old High German slah, Old Norse slākr bad, Latin laxus lax

British Dictionary definitions for slack (2 of 2)

slack

/ (slæk) /

noun

small pieces of coal with a high ash content

Word Origin for slack

C15: probably from Middle Low German slecke; related to Dutch slak, German Schlacke dross

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

slack

adjective

adverb

noun

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Idioms

Origin of slack

SYNONYMS FOR slack

Related forms

Definition for slack (2 of 2)

slack

noun

Origin of slack

Examples from the Web for slack

British Dictionary definitions for slack (1 of 2)

slack

adjective

adverb

noun

verb

Derived Forms

Word Origin for slack

British Dictionary definitions for slack (2 of 2)

slack

noun

Word Origin for slack