as in snails
someone who moves slowly or more slowly than others
tried to spur on the laggards at the back of the line during the hike
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Recent Examples of laggards
The laggards in the polls also took on Steyer, painting him as hypocritical for claiming an environmentalist’s mantle, after acquiring some of his vast wealth with fossil fuel investments.
—
James Rainey, Los Angeles Times, 6 May 2026
Shares of industry incumbents United Parcel Service and FedEx fell 9% and 8%, respectively, making them among the biggest laggards in the S & P 500 on Monday, and signaling that Amazon is becoming a more direct competitor.
—Paulina Likos, CNBC, 4 May 2026
Cyclical shares such as autos, banks and industrials were also among the biggest laggards.
—Levin Stamm, Bloomberg, 20 Apr. 2026
Sunday saw many laggards penalized for failure to obey the national summons.
—Aj Willingham, AJC.com, 1 Apr. 2026
The California Democratic Party pitched its new, periodic polls as a way to help voters and campaigns make sense of the unusually wide-open race for governor — and help encourage laggards to quit the race.
—Ben Paviour, Sacbee.com, 24 Mar. 2026
The conflict is creating leaders and laggards, JPMorgan analysts wrote Monday.
—Rohan Goswami, semafor.com, 3 Mar. 2026
The performance gap between fast learners and laggards is widening.
—Matthew C. Meade, Forbes.com, 21 Jan. 2026
There have been a few gaming laggards, including European publisher Ubisoft (down 44%) and accessory specialist Corsair (down 35%).
—Dan Bernstein, Sportico.com, 21 Jan. 2026
James Rainey, Los Angeles Times, 6 May 2026
Shares of industry incumbents United Parcel Service and FedEx fell 9% and 8%, respectively, making them among the biggest laggards in the S & P 500 on Monday, and signaling that Amazon is becoming a more direct competitor.
—Paulina Likos, CNBC, 4 May 2026
Cyclical shares such as autos, banks and industrials were also among the biggest laggards.
—Levin Stamm, Bloomberg, 20 Apr. 2026
Sunday saw many laggards penalized for failure to obey the national summons.
—Aj Willingham, AJC.com, 1 Apr. 2026
The California Democratic Party pitched its new, periodic polls as a way to help voters and campaigns make sense of the unusually wide-open race for governor — and help encourage laggards to quit the race.
—Ben Paviour, Sacbee.com, 24 Mar. 2026
The conflict is creating leaders and laggards, JPMorgan analysts wrote Monday.
—Rohan Goswami, semafor.com, 3 Mar. 2026
The performance gap between fast learners and laggards is widening.
—Matthew C. Meade, Forbes.com, 21 Jan. 2026
There have been a few gaming laggards, including European publisher Ubisoft (down 44%) and accessory specialist Corsair (down 35%).
—Dan Bernstein, Sportico.com, 21 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for laggards
Noun
-
About 20 races took place at Folsom City Lions Park, with up to nine snails per heat climbing one-foot poles; Mayor Justin Raithel motivated his snail with lettuce and made the semifinals before finishing fourth.—
Sacbee.com,
Sacbee.com,
11 May 2026
-
Pots simmered on the stove with paella, fruit rotted in bowls next to the junk mail, and the pantry was full of old rusted cans of strange unearthly edibles—bamboo shoots and snails in sauce and lemons floating in brine.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
8 May 2026
Noun
-
This spring, Brood II stragglers will emerge between late April and May in states like Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, Connecticut, and North Carolina, according to a map from the University of Connecticut.—
Finch Walker,
USA Today,
14 Apr. 2026
-
They’re known, aptly, as stragglers.—
Addy Bink,
The Hill,
12 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Laggards.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/laggards. Accessed 15 May. 2026.
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