stagnate
Americanverb (used without object)
-
stagnates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
stagnated,
past participle, past
-
stagnating
present participle
-
to cease to run or flow, as water, air, etc.
-
to be or become stale or foul from standing, as a pool of water.
-
to stop developing, growing, progressing, or advancing.
My mind is stagnating from too much TV.
-
to be or become sluggish and dull.
When the leading lady left, the show started to stagnate.
verb (used with object)
-
stagnates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
stagnated,
past participle, past
-
stagnating
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
stagnatesimple
-
stagnatessimple
-
have stagnatedperfect
-
has stagnatedperfect
-
am stagnatingprogressive
-
are stagnatingprogressive
-
is stagnatingprogressive
-
have been stagnatingperfect progressive
-
has been stagnatingperfect progressive
Past
-
stagnatedsimple
-
had stagnatedperfect
-
was stagnatingprogressive
-
were stagnatingprogressive
-
had been stagnatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of stagnate
1660–70; < Latin stāgnātus (past participle of stāgnāre ), equivalent to stāgn ( um ) pool of standing water + -ātus -ate 1
Explanation
If after high school you choose to live in your parents' house, keep the same job, and spend time with the same friends, your mother might worry that you've decided to stagnate, or stop moving forward. When water stagnates, it stops moving and then sometimes begins to smell bad and attract mosquitoes. Think of a marshy pond or an old puddle. Similarly in the figurative sense, when the economy or society stagnates, it doesn't just sit still, it loses momentum. The word carries with it a negative connotation as something that stagnates really should be moving.
Vocabulary lists containing stagnate
"A Sound of Thunder" by Ray Bradbury
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
100 SAT words Beginning with "S"
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Vocabulary: A Rapper's Delight!
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
Whether he takes a wrecking ball to it or lets it stagnate, the Kennedy Center threatens to become his latest victim.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
And he predicted that effect to dissipate in the second quarter, leading eurozone GDP excluding Ireland to stagnate in the spring.
From Barron's ● Jun. 5, 2026
Still, with growth heavily reliant on exports—particularly electronics and AI-related products—analysts warn of an uneven “K-shaped” economy, where the tech sector outperforms while other industries stagnate and consumers face rising costs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026
While the Premier League clubs benefit from ever-increasing TV deals and other European leagues attract heavy investment, Serie A has seen that source of revenue stagnate.
From BBC ● Mar. 25, 2026
Without standardized materials and methods, they worried that the field of tissue culture would stagnate.
From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
The opposite can occur if the economy stagnates or shrinks.
From BBC ● May 18, 2026
“Decoupling seller profit from buyer satisfaction impedes economic growth and slows innovation. Buyer surplus stagnates and inflation accelerates.”
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 6, 2026
Last year's emissions cuts were driven by falls in energy-intensive industries, many of which are struggling as the economy stagnates, and record solar power generation.
From Barron's ● Jan. 7, 2026
As growth in pizza sales stagnates, competition between restaurants has intensified.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 5, 2026
The blood does not react against it; the blood shrinks away, and stagnates around the heart.
From Aurora the Magnificent by Gertrude Hall Brownell
While inflation rates have been increasing this year, the rates on many high-yield savings accounts have largely stagnated.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 14, 2026
The city’s vouchers for the Community Cat Program have stagnated compared with vouchers for individuals with pets, Naitaki said, leading to explosive kitten seasons like this year.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
The property crisis drags on and home prices have stagnated, dissuading would-be buyers.
From Barron's ● Jul. 15, 2026
While life expectancy has stagnated, in more than 90% of areas, healthy life expectancy has dropped below the state pension age, with Britons now living about a quarter of their lives in poor health.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
Berkeley’s ability to exploit its increasingly inventive faculty’s work stagnated under this lumbering regime until 1931, when Sproul met Frederick Cottrell.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
However, since early July oil prices have been "creeping upwards until the middle of the month then stagnating".
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
Currently, stocks of hyperscalers at the front end of the AI boom are stagnating with falls in free cash flow, while chips, infrastructure providers and optical networking gain.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026
Some are concerned that AI could worsen what’s called a “K-shaped” economy, in which the rich see growth and most other people struggle with stagnating opportunities.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2026
Historically, stagnating sales led automakers to juice demand by rolling out deals and incentives that eroded their profit margins.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026
“I just feel like I’m stagnating, and it’s pretty obvious Sam isn’t interested in my development.”
From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad
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.
