sluggish
Americanadjective
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indisposed to action or exertion; lacking in energy; lazy; indolent.
a sluggish disposition.
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not acting or working with full vigor, as bodily organs.
a sluggish liver.
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slow to act or respond.
a sluggish car engine.
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moving slowly, or having little motion, as a stream.
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slow, as motion.
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slack, as trade, business, or sales.
adjective
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lacking energy; inactive; slow-moving
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functioning at below normal rate or level
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exhibiting poor response to stimulation
Synonym Usage
See inactive.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of sluggish
First recorded in 1400–50, sluggish is from the late Middle English word slugissh. See slug 1, -ish 1
Explanation
When you are feeling draggy — positively slug-like — you are sluggish, or slow. If cookie sales are sluggish at your bake sale, you are selling very few treats. Just about anything can be sluggish. An old computer that takes forever to load a piece of software is sluggish, as is a car that can't quite make it up a big hill. And who isn't sluggish in the morning before the first cup of coffee?! Picture a slug moving its heavy little body across a basketball court... Still going? Yes. It will take that slug forever to get to the foul line at the sluggish pace it's moving.
Vocabulary lists containing sluggish
List 12
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Unit 1: Telling Details
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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.
But China has also become much more competitive and in recent years, especially in the wake of the pandemic, youth have been hit hard by a sluggish Chinese economy.
From BBC • Jun. 13, 2026
Momentum is set to weaken further in the second quarter and third and fourth quarter growth could also remain sluggish, it adds.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 11, 2026
Same-store transaction volume has increased year over year for seven quarters in a row, while sales growth at most restaurant and beverage peers is either sluggish or driven by price hikes.
From Barron's • Jun. 10, 2026
And when Walmart’s first-quarter earnings last month came out slightly less than perfect, some investors fled, a big factor behind this year’s sluggish stock performance.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 4, 2026
“Yes, there’s hope for you,” Yossarian remembered with a sluggish flow of inspiration.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
Definitions 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.
