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View synonyms for sluggish

sluggish

[ sluhg-ish ]

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.


sluggish

/ ˈslʌɡɪʃ /

adjective

  1. lacking energy; inactive; slow-moving
  2. functioning at below normal rate or level
  3. exhibiting poor response to stimulation
“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


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Derived Forms

  • ˈsluggishly, adverb
  • ˈsluggishness, noun
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Other Words From

  • sluggish·ly adverb
  • sluggish·ness noun
  • un·sluggish adjective
  • un·sluggish·ly adverb
  • un·sluggish·ness noun
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Word History and Origins

Origin of sluggish1

First recorded in 1400–50, sluggish is from the late Middle English word slugissh. See slug 1, -ish 1
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Synonym Study

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Example Sentences

Reducing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, restoring habitat, and cleaning up polluted sites can be a sluggish process without immediate reward.

If your internet is still sluggish, the issue may be more local.

From Quartz

Jerry Brown fired Miller in the fall of 2011 as he sought to revive California’s sluggish economy.

If you’re feeling a little more sluggish than usual after months upon months of working and socializing from home, you aren’t alone.

That business was sluggish in the spring, Sibley said, though it has begun to come back over the past couple weeks.

From Digiday

Yet, this year, even with God and Country counting on us, Black Friday sales were reportedly sluggish.

Dolores has abundant gripes, late arrivals, and a sluggish pace among them.

But if the sluggish status quo persists, then the candidate of “hope and change” will likely leave as divisive as his predecessor.

Local authorities and international donors have come under intense criticism for what many see as a sluggish response.

The economy is still sluggish, unemployment is still high, and struggling families still need these benefits.

If he had set out to arouse emotion in these two sluggish breasts he had done so with a vengeance.

They set their club-topsail to catch the upper airs, but the last hour was sluggish sailing.

The Poles were either (p. 002) dull and sluggish boors or haughty and elegant, pleasure-loving nobles.

The long inactive, sluggish ecclesiastics suddenly seemed to feel the vigor to resist and the power to lead.

All three were natives of the soil, and somewhat sluggish in nature, like its sticky red shale.

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