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.
Their obsession with loyalty and often-imagined conspiracies ended with purges of some of the UFW’s most dynamic leaders and organizing stagnation, even as field hands continued to labor under abysmal conditions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026
While the German economy is slowly emerging from the stagnation of recent years, that recovery isn’t yet self-sustaining, ZEW President Achim Wambach said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2026
The stagnation has coincided with several major shocks on the global economy, including the Covid-19 pandemic, recurring trade rows and multiple wars.
From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026
The immovability of both songs has raised questions about stagnation in the charts, and whether streaming services are doing enough to promote new music.
From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026
Rather, he had watched with dismay as his country slid into stagnation in the 1970s.
From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
