slow
- moving or proceeding with little or less than usual speed or velocity: a slow train.
- characterized by lack of speed: a slow pace.
- taking or requiring a comparatively long time for completion: a slow meal; a slow trip.
- requiring or taking a long time for growing, changing, or occurring; gradual: a plant of slow growth.
- sluggish in nature, disposition, or function.
- dull of perception or understanding; mentally dull: a slow child.
- not prompt, readily disposed, or in haste (usually followed by to or an infinitive): slow to anger; slow to take offense.
- burning or heating with little speed or intensity, as a fire or an oven.
- slack; not busy: The market was slow today.
- having some quality that retards speed or causes movement, progress, work, etc., to be accomplished at less than the usual or expected rate of speed: a slow, careful worker; a slow road.
- running at less than the proper rate of speed or registering less than the proper time, as a clock.
- passing heavily or dragging, as time: It's been a slow afternoon.
- not progressive; behind the times: a slow town.
- dull, humdrum, uninteresting, or tedious: What a slow party!
- Photography. requiring long exposure, as by having a small lens diameter or low film sensitivity: a slow lens or film.
- (of the surface of a race track) sticky from a fairly recent rain and in the process of drying out.
- in a slow manner; slowly: Drive slow.
- to make slow or slower (often followed by up or down).
- to retard; reduce the advancement or progress of: His illness slowed him at school.
- to become slow or slower; slacken in speed (often followed by up or down).
Origin of slow
Synonyms for slow
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comSynonym study
Antonyms for slow
Usage note
Originally, slow was used both preceding and following the verb it modified. Today, it is used chiefly in imperative constructions with short verbs of motion ( drive, run, turn, walk, etc.), and it follows the verb: Drive slow. Don't walk so slow. This use is more common in speech than in writing, although it occurs widely on traffic and road signs. Slow also combines with present participles in forming adjectives: slow-burning; slow-moving. In this use it is standard in all varieties of speech and writing.
Slowly is by far the more common form of the adverb in writing. In both speech and writing it is the usual form in preverb position ( He slowly drove down the street. The couple slowly strolled into the park ) and following verbs that are not imperatives ( He drove slowly down the street. The couple strolled slowly through the park ). See also quick, sure.
Related Words for slowest
heavy, gradual, quiet, lackadaisical, passive, stagnant, leisurely, easy, moderate, sluggish, lethargic, reluctant, tedious, stiff, tame, low, dull, time-consuming, simple, limitedExamples from the Web for slowest
Contemporary Examples of slowest
Also Beyoncé will sing the slowest version of “Crazy in Love” that has ever been sung.
Mineral growth is fastest in summer, when the days are long, and slowest in winter, when the days are short.
How Long Is a Year? Is the Earth Slowing Down? And Other Questions About TimeNeil Shubin
January 6, 2013
Yet this recovery has been the slowest and weakest since World War II.
Under Obama, annualized growth in federal spending has risen at the slowest pace in decades.
But the real progress of the fastest movement has depended on the slowest process.
Historical Examples of slowest
It is one of the slowest, because one of the most durable, of agencies.
Nor are we right in supposing that the swiftest of them is the slowest, nor conversely, that the slowest is the quickest.
LawsPlato
The laboratory is the slowest possible way of getting facts.
College TeachingPaul Klapper
Laud will not be the slowest in thy praise: "Thorough" he'll cry!
Browning's EnglandHelen Archibald Clarke
Does not Emerson say that friendship is the slowest fruit in the garden of God?
slow
- performed or occurring during a comparatively long interval of time
- lasting a comparatively long timea slow journey
- characterized by lack of speeda slow walker
- (prenominal) adapted to or productive of slow movementthe slow lane of a motorway
- (of a clock, etc) indicating a time earlier than the correct time
- given to or characterized by a leisurely or lazy existencea slow town
- not readily responsive to stimulation; intellectually unreceptivea slow mind
- dull or uninterestingthe play was very slow
- not easily arouseda slow temperament
- lacking promptness or immediacya slow answer
- unwilling to perform an action or enter into a stateslow to anger
- behind the times
- (of trade, etc) unproductive; slack
- (of a fire) burning weakly
- (of an oven) cool
- photog requiring a relatively long time of exposure to produce a given densitya slow lens
- sport (of a track, etc) tending to reduce the speed of the ball or the competitors
- cricket (of a bowler, etc) delivering the ball slowly, usually with spin
- in a manner characterized by lack of speed; slowly
- (often foll by up or down) to decrease or cause to decrease in speed, efficiency, etc
Word Origin for slow
Word Origin and History for slowest
slow
Old English slaw "inactive, sluggish, torpid, lazy," also "not clever," from Proto-Germanic *slæwaz (cf. Old Saxon sleu "blunt, dull," Middle Dutch slee, Dutch sleeuw "sour, tart, blunt," Old High German sleo "blunt, dull," Old Norse sljor, Danish sløv, Swedish slö "blunt, dull"). Meaning "taking a long time" is attested from early 13c. Meaning "dull, tedious" is from 1841. As an adverb c.1500. The slows "imaginary disease to account for lethargy" is from 1843.
slow
1550s, "make slower;" 1590s, "go slower," from slow (adj.). Related: Slowed; slowing. Old English had slawian (intransitive) "to be or become slow, be sluggish," but the modern use appears to be a 16c. re-formation.
Idioms and Phrases with slowest
slow
In addition to the idioms beginning with slow
- slow burn
- slow but sure
- slow down
- slow on the uptake
- slow up
also see:
- mills of the gods grind slowly
- on the uptake, slow