slack
1 Americanadjective
-
not tight, taut, firm, or tense;
a slack rope.
- Synonyms:
- relaxed
-
slack proofreading.
- Synonyms:
- thoughtless, lazy, lax
-
slow, sluggish, or indolent.
He is slack in answering letters.
-
not active or busy; dull; not brisk.
the slack season in an industry.
-
moving very slowly, as the tide, wind, or water.
-
Phonetics. weak; lax.
-
Nautical. easy.
adverb
noun
-
a slack condition or part.
-
the part of a rope, sail, or the like, that hangs loose, without strain upon it.
-
a decrease in activity, as in business or work.
a sudden slack in output.
- Synonyms:
- relaxation
-
a period of decreased activity.
-
Geography. a cessation in a strong flow, as of a current at its turn.
-
a depression between hills, in a hillside, or in the land surface.
-
Prosody. (in sprung rhythm) the unaccented syllable or syllables.
-
British Dialect. a morass; marshy ground; a hollow or dell with soft, wet ground at the bottom.
verb (used with object)
-
to be remiss in respect to (some matter, duty, right, etc.); leave undone; shirk.
He slacked the most important part.
- Synonyms:
- neglect
-
to make or allow to become less active, vigorous, intense, etc.; relax (efforts, labor, speed, etc.); lessen; moderate (often followed byup ).
-
to make loose, or less tense or taut, as a rope; loosen (often followed by off orout ).
-
to slake (lime).
verb (used without object)
-
to be remiss; shirk one's duty or part.
- Synonyms:
- malinger
-
to become less active, vigorous, rapid, etc. (often followed byup ).
Business is slacking up.
-
to become less tense or taut, as a rope; to ease off.
-
to become slaked, as lime.
idioms
noun
adjective
-
not tight, tense, or taut
-
negligent or careless
-
(esp of water, etc) moving slowly
-
(of trade, etc) not busy
-
phonetics another term for lax
adverb
noun
-
a part of a rope, etc, that is slack
take in the slack
-
a period of decreased activity
-
-
a patch of water without current
-
a slackening of a current
-
-
prosody (in sprung rhythm) the unstressed syllable or syllables
verb
-
to neglect (one's duty, etc)
-
(often foll by off) to loosen; to make slack
-
chem a less common word for slake
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
slacksimple
-
slackssimple
-
have slackedperfect
-
has slackedperfect
-
am slackingprogressive
-
are slackingprogressive
-
is slackingprogressive
-
have been slackingperfect progressive
-
has been slackingperfect progressive
Past
-
slackedsimple
-
had slackedperfect
-
was slackingprogressive
-
were slackingprogressive
-
had been slackingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of slack1
First recorded before 900; Middle English adjective slak(e), slakke, Old English slæc, sleac; cognate with Old Norse slakr, Old High German slach, Latin laxus lax
Origin of slack2
First recorded in 1200–50; of uncertain origin; compare Middle English sleck “mud, slush, stony soil,” Flemish slecke, Middle Dutch slacke, slecke, Dutch slak, Low German slak(ke), German Schlacke “dross (of metal)”
Explanation
If you slow down at the end of a race, you slack off. When you use slack this way, it means to reduce your speed, to be sluggish, or to be negligent. If something is loose, it's also said to be slack. A clothesline, for example, is slack if it is just hanging loosely between two trees. If you pull the clothesline tight, you reduce the slack. The root word of slack is the Old English word slæc, which means "loose or careless." When you scold your friend for being careless about his responsibilities, you can say, "Pick up the slack!"
Vocabulary lists containing slack
The SAT: Multiple-Meaning Words, List 3
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!
The New SAT: Multiple-Meaning Words
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!
The ACT Reading Test: Multiple-Meaning Words, List 3
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:
As the tech sector has struggled, other corners of the market have picked up the slack.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026
Some cut the manager some slack by saying the players, though hard-working and fiercely determined, are over-praised and over-rated at this level.
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026
Still, Wall Street seems to be willing to cut Warsh some slack as he tries to sort through things.
From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026
After college he did not slack off, noted his biographer Christopher Simon Sykes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2026
I tapped him on his shoulder and he jerked his head up, slack spilling out of his nose.
From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam
“You’re a slacker. You remind me of your father when he went here. He was a slacker, too.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 30, 2026
My backstory was that they lived in New York — he was trying to get in a band, it didn’t really happen for him, he was kind of a slacker.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 2025
That realisation manifests in the lovestruck slacker rock of Dragonfly, and the finger-plucked Neptune Baby, with its refrain, "I'm a boat, and you are the water".
From BBC ● Apr. 27, 2025
Some of the plot is just unnecessary padding, like Daniel’s girlfriend troubles and slacker mentality, spiking in an odd scene where he hysterically bemoans his own uselessness.
From New York Times ● Jun. 20, 2024
He believed that if he didn't return to Germany, he would be considered "unpatriotic" and a "slacker."
From Nazi Saboteurs by Samantha Seiple
The UK has the slackest regulation of all EU members; other member states are much more stringent in their approach.
From The Guardian ● May 24, 2013
It was the most abstract and highly changeable concert I’ve seen this group perform, and also the slackest: inspired on one level, frustrating on another.
From New York Times ● Feb. 10, 2011
In any year it would have been a tasteful, artful job of the soft sell, but in this, television's slackest season, the Eastern Airlines commercial looked like a masterwork.
From Time Magazine Archive
In the weeks before Christmas, when retail sales are usually at their highest, retailers were cutting prices as though it were slackest of seasons.
From Time Magazine Archive
Anyway, the winter tourist trade in the desert always is so good that it makes up for the slackest of summers.
From Four and Twenty Beds by Vogel, Nancy
A styling group stores troves of neutral tone crew and V-neck sweaters, button-down shirts, slacks and extra pairs of the Silver Lining Opticians “Carbon” glasses at an off-site building, current and former employees said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 31, 2026
Eugene Levert, chain-smoking next to a stack of books while wearing a vertical blue-striped button-down and khaki slacks, looked the scholarly mirror of Doug Lamplugh, in a horizontal blue-striped polo and khaki shorts.
From Slate ● May 4, 2026
Allen wore a black dress shirt and slacks, a red tie tucked into his pants and a small leather bag prosecutors say was filled with ammunition.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 3, 2026
She added with a laugh that she’d brainstormed speech material the previous night while shaving her legs, despite the fact that she was outfitted in slacks at the ceremony.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 15, 2026
She looks at my mother's freshly ironed black slacks and sky-blue blouse.
From "The Sky at Our Feet" by Nadia Hashimi
Speaking to the press, he said: "I've given my heart and soul. I can't think there'll be too many cricket fans out there who would think I've slacked off for a moment."
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2023
It's not as if Eigenberg ever slacked off in maintaining his physique; he also plays a main role in "Chicago Fire."
From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2023
"We were just active on defense. When they had their runs, we slacked off," Brooks said.
From Fox News ● Nov. 19, 2021
Two months ago, when half the vaccine refusers in a Harris poll said they had slacked off on taking precautions, they were asked why.
From Slate ● May 3, 2021
Martha made sure that none of us slacked off for even a single day.
From "Courage to Soar" by Simone Biles
I’ve heard it repeatedly from experts: The greatest risk of working out alone is bad form, leading to inefficient movement, slacking off and higher chance of injury.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 4, 2026
With her apartment a flood zone and her landlord slacking off on the maintenance, Linda and her daughter are forced to live at a nearby hotel.
From Salon ● Oct. 9, 2025
Florida’s experience isn’t an endorsement of slacking at the start of the year, something the Washington Capitals learned from their playoff streak ending.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 1, 2023
“When are you going to stop slacking off?”
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 30, 2023
Some folks can look at you and tell if you’re even thinking about slacking off, they’ll add some work to you faster than you can say Jack Robinson.
From "Bud, Not Buddy" by Christopher Paul Curtis
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.
