stagnate

[stag-neyt]

verb (used without object)

stagnated, stagnating 

1. to cease to run or flow, as water, air, etc.

2. to be or become stale or foul from standing, as a pool of water.

3. to stop developing, growing, progressing, or advancing.

   My mind is stagnating from too much TV.

4. to be or become sluggish and dull.

   When the leading lady left, the show started to stagnate.

verb (used with object)

stagnated, stagnating 

1. to make stagnant.

stagnate

/ stæɡˈneɪt, ˈstæɡˌneɪt /

verb

1. (intr) to be or to become stagnant

Other Word Forms

• stagnation noun
• stagnatory adjective
• unstagnating adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of stagnate¹

1660–70; < Latin stāgnātus (past participle of stāgnāre ), equivalent to stāgn ( um ) pool of standing water + -ātus -ate ¹

Example Sentences

Now, more are falling behind on their loans, signaling that lower-income consumers are struggling to afford payments as wages stagnate and unemployment ticks higher.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Rising at a level slower than consumer-price inflation, home price have essentially stagnated, he said.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The region’s inability to create big tech firms is also seen as a reason why its economies are stagnating.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

That county, the most populous in Kansas, has seen its Democratic ranks grow by roughly 53,000 people in the last nine years, even as the number of registered Republicans stagnated.

Read more on Salon

The engineering giant said the losses, in its mobility division in Germany which provides vehicle parts and software, came as a result of a stagnated market and pressure from rival companies.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• fester 
• hibernate 
• languish 
• stall 
• stand still www.thesaurus.com