sluggish

American  

[sluhg-ish] / ˈslʌg ɪʃ /

adjective

1. indisposed to action or exertion; lacking in energy; lazy; indolent.

   a sluggish disposition.

   Synonyms:

   slothful, slow

   Antonyms:

   active, quick

2. not acting or working with full vigor, as bodily organs.

   a sluggish liver.

3. slow to act or respond.

   a sluggish car engine.

4. moving slowly, or having little motion, as a stream.

5. slow, as motion.

6. slack, as trade, business, or sales.

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sluggish British  

/ ˈslʌɡɪʃ /

adjective

1. lacking energy; inactive; slow-moving

2. functioning at below normal rate or level

3. exhibiting poor response to stimulation

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Related Words

See inactive.

Other Word Forms

• sluggishly adverb
• sluggishness noun
• unsluggish adjective
• unsluggishly adverb
• unsluggishness noun

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.

Example Sentences

Foundayo’s sluggish second week may be the first signal that Lilly could face competitive pressures in a market it has largely dominated.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 30, 2026

The company faces sluggish demand and inflation, yet ended 2025 with a record $22 billion backlog.

From Barron's • Apr. 29, 2026

Over the past few years, shares in the soda giant have outperformed many food-and-beverage peers that are struggling with sluggish sales.

From Barron's • Apr. 27, 2026

“Hiring is very sluggish and turnover is very sluggish,” he said.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 23, 2026

If we could hear the passengers on the train speak, their voices would sound slurred and sluggish, like a record played at too slow a speed, and their movements would appear similarly ponderous.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson

Related Words

• heavy
• inactive
• lethargic
• listless
• slack
• slow
• stagnant