: lagging or tending to lag : slow especially compared to others of the same kind
a laggard pace
… we arrived in Northville, to find … the celebrated ducks playing host to a laggard flock of dark-brown Canada geese.—
The New Yorker
The New YorkerWith sugar prices weak, the stock has been laggard.—Richard B. Hoey
Richard B. Hoey
laggardly
adverb or adjective
laggardness
noun
plural laggards
: someone or something that lags or lingers : someone or something that is slow especially compared to others of the same kind
A few laggards slowed down the pace of the hike.
The company has been accused of being a laggard in adopting new technology.
They [brown bears] usually catch salmon by chasing them through shallow water and pouncing on the laggards.—National Wildlife
National WildlifeExamples of laggard in a Sentence
Adjective
I hate being stuck behind laggard motorists on the freeway.
Noun
The company has been a laggard in developing new products.
tried to spur on the laggards at the back of the line during the hike
Recent Examples on the Web
Julian Zelizer, CNN, 30 Sep. 2022
Its laggard incubation period gives us a full 21 days to intervene between exposure and disease.
—Abdul El-Sayed, The New Republic, 29 Sep. 2022
Christian Clark, New York Times, 13 Apr. 2025
Yet, without embracing the risk of failure, companies risk becoming laggards in a fast-pacing market.
—Jessica Mendoza, Forbes.com, 1 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for laggard
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Adjective
Bush’s father, President George H.W. Bush, came under fire in 1992 for his laggard response to Andrew in Florida, a Category 5 hurricane with winds that reached 165 mph, shortly before his reelection contest against Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton.
—Julian Zelizer, CNN, 30 Sep. 2022
Its laggard incubation period gives us a full 21 days to intervene between exposure and disease.
—Abdul El-Sayed, The New Republic, 29 Sep. 2022
Noun
Teams that pushed boundaries more than two decades ago would be considered laggards today.
—Christian Clark, New York Times, 13 Apr. 2025
Yet, without embracing the risk of failure, companies risk becoming laggards in a fast-pacing market.
—Jessica Mendoza, Forbes.com, 1 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for laggard
Cite this Entry
“Laggard.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/laggard. Accessed 4 May. 2025.
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