stagnation
Americannoun
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the state or condition of stagnating, or having stopped, as by ceasing to run or flow.
Meteorologists forecast ozone and air stagnation.
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a foulness or staleness, as one emanating from a standing pool of water.
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a failure to develop, progress, or advance.
periods of economic stagnation followed by bursts of growth.
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the state or quality of being or feeling sluggish and dull.
Happily, they have been able to avoid stagnation in their ten-year marriage.
Etymology
Origin of stagnation
Explanation
Stagnation is the state of being still, or not moving, like a sitting puddle of water where stagnation attracts mosquitoes. The root of stagnation is the Latin word for "standing water," stagnatum. The stagnation of water can be a serious problem in parts of the world where mosquitoes spread diseases like malaria, or where there is a shortage of drinkable water. There are also other kinds of stagnation, or inactivity — like a struggling country's economic stagnation or a writer's mental stagnation that results in writer's block.
Vocabulary lists containing stagnation
"Letter from Birmingham Jail" by Martin Luther King, Jr. (1963)
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President Trump's First State of The Union Address (2018)
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myPerspectives 9.3
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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.
Despite the project’s stagnation, she continues to convey optimism.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
The Dream started to decline some 50 years ago, beginning in the 1970s, with globalisation and wage stagnation, according to Mark Rank, co-author of Chasing the American Dream: Understanding What Shapes Our Fortunes.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
Wage stagnation and the effects of the Great Recession are among the reasons cited by the researchers.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 14, 2026
But following a long period of stagnation stretching back to the 2008 financial crisis, the economy looks set for a fresh setback as the latest energy shock takes its toll.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
There was no counterbalance to stagnation, to pessimism, to the most abject surrenders to mysticism.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
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.
