slow

adjective \ ˈslō \

|Updated on: 9 Jun 2018

Tip: Synonym Guide

Usage guide: slow vs. slowly

Examples: slow in a Sentence

Definition of slow

1 a : mentally dull : stupid

a slow student

b : naturally inert or sluggish

2 a : lacking in readiness, promptness, or willingness

b : not hasty or precipitate

was slow to anger

3 a : moving, flowing, or proceeding without speed or at less than usual speed

traffic was slow

b : exhibiting or marked by low speed

he moved with slow deliberation

c : not acute

a slow disease

d : low, gentle

slow fire

4 : requiring a long time : gradual

a slow recovery

5 : having qualities that hinder rapid progress or action

a slow track

6 a : registering behind or below what is correct

the clock is slow

b : less than the time indicated by another method of reckoning

c : that is behind the time at a specified time or place

7 a : lacking in life, animation, or gaiety : boring

the first chapter is a bit slow

b : marked by reduced activity

business was slow

a slow news week

—

slowish

play \ˈslō-ish\ adjective

—

slowness

noun

See slow defined for English-language learners

See slow defined for kids

Examples of slow in a Sentence

The buyers were slow to act, and the house was sold to someone else.
He was a quiet boy who seldom spoke, and some people thought he was a little slow.
Business is slow during the summer.
The first few chapters are slow, but after that it gets better.

Recent Examples of slow from the Web

Healing might even be slower when patients find out about abnormal imaging results, even if those results are clinically irrelevant.

— emily sohn, Washington Post, "Even if a medical test shows an abnormality, you may not need to worry about it," 3 June 2018
Help was far slower to come to Puerto Rico, even allowing for the island’s difficult logistics.

— yvonne abraham, BostonGlobe.com, "After hurricane struck Puerto Rico, a second disaster was man-made," 2 June 2018
Colorado signee Gabe Fendel of Hamilton Southeastern was fourth in 4:14.07, about 10 seconds slower than his winning time from 2017.

— david woods, Indianapolis Star, "IHSAA boys track and field: Plymouth's Nate Patterson narrowly misses national record," 2 June 2018
This year, the first northbound tow passed through Lock 7 on March 26 because Lake Pepin was slower to melt than in other years.

— meg jones, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "The Mississippi River lock and dam system is critical to the economy. But it's falling apart fast.," 1 June 2018
And for the most part, the tempos are slower, almost like ballads.

— aaron carnes, sacbee, "Sacramento rock band explores weighty issues of loss, death and innocence," 1 June 2018
The nation has been slower to embrace offshore wind than Europe, but regulatory hurdles and the price of offshore units have eased in recent years.

— kevin spear, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Orlando wind-energy operations grow with Siemens Gamesa merger," 31 May 2018
Although slower than a wall charger, the Outdoor Pro juiced a dead phone to 50 percent in a little over two hours.

— emily reed, Outside Online, "Our Favorite Lantern Just Got a Major Upgrade," 30 May 2018
Foreshadowing the production problems that would plague the company in the future, early versions of the Roadster were slower than a $30,000 Honda S2000.

— brent goldfarb and david kirsch, Vox, "Why is Elon Musk raging at “big media”? Because he’s finally being called on his tall tales.," 30 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'slow.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of slow

Middle English, from Old English slāw; akin to Old High German slēo dull

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First Known Use: before 12th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

slow Synonyms

slow

adverb

Definition of slow

: slowly

See slow defined for English-language learners

slow vs. slowly

Some commentators claim that careful writers avoid the adverb slow, in spite of the fact that it has had over four centuries of usage.

- have a continent forbearance till the speed of his rage goes slower
- —William Shakespeare

In actual practice, slow and slowly are not used in quite the same way. Slow is almost always used with verbs that denote movement or action, and it regularly follows the verb it modifies.

- beans … are best cooked long and slow
- —Louise Prothro

Slowly is used before the verb

- a sense of outrage, which slowly changed to shame
- —Paul Horgan

and with participial adjectives.

- a slowly dawning awareness … of the problem
- —Amer. Labor

Slowly is used after verbs where slow might also be used

- burn slow or slowly

and after verbs where slow would be unidiomatic.

- the leadership turned slowly toward bombing as a means of striking back
- —David Halberstam

Examples of slow in a Sentence

My computer is working slow.
you need to go slow with this experiment, or you'll make mistakes

Recent Examples of slow from the Web

Whereas Kilauea, a shield volcano, is characterized by large globs of slow-moving lava inching out of fissures, Fuego, a stratovolcano, is prone to spewing fast-moving flows of ash, lava, and mud.

— sarah gibbens, National Geographic, "Why Guatemala's Volcano Is Deadlier Than Hawaii's," 4 June 2018
The National Hurricane Center has issued a tropical storm warning for the Florida Panhandle up to the Mississippi/ Alabama border as slow-moving subtropical storm Alberto heads northward up the Gulf Coast on Memorial Day, Monday, May 28.

— maria clark, NOLA.com, "Alberto bears down on the Florida panhandle on Memorial Day," 28 May 2018
Each monitor tells its own, slow-moving story in one long take from a single, uninflected point of view, the images behaving more like hybrids of photograph and movie than either one alone.

— charles desmarais, San Francisco Chronicle, "Scenes of a privileged paradise that can never be in Ragnar Kjartansson’s ‘Western Culture’," 25 May 2018
John and several other kids rushed over, each dragging a kayak into the slow-moving water.

— laura ungar, The Courier-Journal, "How do Kentucky communities keep kids off drugs? They UNITE," 24 May 2018
Goodlatte is also pressing for information about whether the Justice Department under the Obama administration slow-walked the FBI's investigation into the Clinton Foundation.

— laura jarrett, CNN, "House conservatives push Sessions, Rosenstein to disclose key details in probes," 1 May 2018
This wasn’t an ‘80s action hero slow-walking away from a nuclear explosion.

— nick moyle, San Antonio Express-News, "Villanova rains, drains 3-pointers to thwart Kansas in Final Four," 31 Mar. 2018
Ten years after the financial crisis, the U.S. is slow-walking into another catastrophe by biasing policy for the powerful.

— david dayen, The New Republic, "Will Another White Big-Banker Oversee Wall Street?," 13 Mar. 2018
Despite Oregon lawmakers' slow-walking on the popular vote bill, many members of the public have called the Capitol to urge its passage.

— gordon r. friedman, OregonLive.com, "National popular vote bill stalled in Oregon Legislature," 28 Feb. 2018

First Known Use of slow

15th century

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

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slow Synonyms

Synonyms

laggardly, leisurely, pokily, slowly, sluggishly, tardily;

Antonyms

apace, briskly, fast, fleetly, full tilt, hastily, quick, quickly, rapidly, snappily, speedily, swift, swiftly;

Near Antonyms

immediately, posthaste, presto, promptly, pronto, readily, soon;

impetuously, impulsively, rashly, recklessly;

abruptly, suddenly;

heavily, ploddingly;

slow

verb

Definition of slow

slowed; slowing; slows

transitive verb

: to make slow or slower : slacken the speed of

slow a car

—often used with down or up

intransitive verb

: to go or become slower

production of new cars slowed sharply

See slow defined for English-language learners

Examples of slow in a Sentence

The car slowed and gradually came to a stop.
The extra weight slowed the truck.

Recent Examples of slow from the Web

By highlighting speed, Apple is addressing a common complaint among owners of iPhones who feel that their devices seem to slow down after every new upgrade.

— jack nicas, brian x. chen and farhad manjoo, New York Times, "Apple’s WWDC 2018 Live: Apple Still Wants to Be Different," 5 June 2018
The conservationists who have mounted this effort say that cutting off marketplaces online is the only way to efficiently slow down the wildlife trade before animals like elephants and rhinos are hunted into extinction.

— issie lapowsky, WIRED, "Tusks, Horns, and Claws: The Fight to Dismantle the Facebook Animal Parts Bazaar," 5 June 2018
Rauner began running ads using the Blagojevich-Pritzker recordings in January as the Republican sought to slow Pritzker’s momentum toward winning the March primary nomination.

— chicago tribune staff, chicagotribune.com, "Morning Spin: Rauner campaign gets back on the airwaves with ad about Prizker phone call with Blagojevich," 5 June 2018
There will be travel delays during construction hours and drivers are urged to slow down and observe signs and traffic control devices.

— rosemarie stein, OregonLive.com, "Portland Metro Tuesday Traffic: Sewer work closes northbound ramp from McLoughlin to Powell," 5 June 2018
So increasing the severity of the punishment doesn’t do much, if anything, to slow the flow of drugs.

— german lopez, Vox, "Trump wants to execute drug dealers. But he may pardon one because Kim Kardashian asked him to.," 5 June 2018
Along with various strategies to try to slow spending on prescription drugs, one proposal would shift responsibility for uncompensated care payments from the Medicare program to the federal treasury.

— amy goldstein, Washington Post, "A crucial Medicare trust fund will run out three years earlier than predicted, new report says," 5 June 2018
Supreme’s drop system, which is a way for the brand to slow burn hype over the course of the entire season, is now seen as an antidote to a moribund retail industry.

— cam wolf, GQ, "Supreme Just Won the Biggest Award in Menswear," 5 June 2018
Meanwhile, at Michigan State University, veterinarians have identified ways to slow the spread of E. coli between dairy cows.

— neil c. olson, Fortune, "America’s Veterinarian Shortage Is Bad for Animals and Humans Alike," 5 June 2018

First Known Use of slow

1557

in the meaning defined at transitive sense

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

slow Synonyms

Synonyms

brake, decelerate, retard, slacken;

Antonyms

accelerate, hasten, hurry, quicken, rush, speed (up), step up;

Near Antonyms

drive, encourage, goad, propel, push, spur, stir, urge;

advance, aid, dispatch, ease, expedite, facilitate, forward, further, help;

Related Words

halt, stop;

encumber, hamper, handicap, hinder, hobble, hold back, hold up, impede, inhibit, obstruct, set back, tie up;

arrest, check, constrain, curb, rein, restrain;

baffle, foil, frustrate, thwart;

Synonym Discussion of slow

delay, retard, slow, slacken, detain mean to cause to be late or behind in movement or progress. delay implies a holding back, usually by interference, from completion or arrival.

- bad weather delayed our arrival

retard suggests reduction of speed without actual stopping.

- language barriers retarded their progress

slow and slacken also imply a reduction of speed, slow often suggesting deliberate intention

- medication slowed the patient's heart rate

, slacken an easing up or relaxing of power or effort.

- on hot days runners slacken their pace

detain implies a holding back beyond a reasonable or appointed time.

- unexpected business had detained her

SLOW Defined for English Language Learners

slow

adjective

Definition of slow for English Language Learners

: not moving quickly : not able to move quickly
: not happening quickly : taking more time than is expected or wanted
: not operating quickly

slow

adverb

Definition of slow for English Language Learners

: in a slow way or at a low speed

slow

verb

Definition of slow for English Language Learners

: to begin to move at a lower speed
: to make (something, such as a car) move at a lower speed
: to become slower

SLOW Defined for Kids

slow

adjective \ ˈslō \

Definition of slow for Students

slower; slowest

1 : moving, flowing, or going at less than the usual speed

slow music

Traffic was slow.

2 : taking more time than is expected or desired

We had a slow start on the project.

3 : not as smart or as quick to understand as most people

4 : not active

Business was slow.

5 : indicating less than is correct

My watch is five minutes slow.

6 : not easily aroused or excited

Grandmother is slow to anger.

—

slowly

adverb

—

slowness

noun

slow

verb

Definition of slow for Students

slowed; slowing

: to go or make go less than the usual speed

The car slowed around the corner.

The heavy load slowed the wagon.

Headscratcher for slow

You can slow up and you can slow down. Either way, you're doing the same thing: you're going slower.

slow

adverb

Definition of slow for Students

slower; slowest

: in a slow way

Can you talk slower?

Learn More about slow

Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for slow Spanish Central: Translation of slow Nglish: Translation of slow for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of slow for Arabic speakers

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slow

Definition of slow

slowish

slowness

Examples of slow in a Sentence

Recent Examples of slow from the Web

Origin and Etymology of slow

slow Synonyms

Synonyms

Antonyms

Near Antonyms

Related Words

slow

Definition of slow

slow vs. slowly

Examples of slow in a Sentence

Recent Examples of slow from the Web

First Known Use of slow

slow Synonyms

Synonyms

Antonyms

Near Antonyms

Related Words

slow

Definition of slow

Examples of slow in a Sentence

Recent Examples of slow from the Web

First Known Use of slow

slow Synonyms

Synonyms

Antonyms

Near Antonyms

Related Words

Synonym Discussion of slow

SLOW Defined for English Language Learners

slow

Definition of slow for English Language Learners

slow

Definition of slow for English Language Learners

slow

Definition of slow for English Language Learners

SLOW Defined for Kids

slow

Definition of slow for Students

slowly

slowness

slow

Definition of slow for Students

Headscratcher for slow

slow

Definition of slow for Students

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