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 conflict is creating leaders and laggards, JPMorgan analysts wrote Monday.
—
Rohan Goswami, semafor.com, 3 Mar. 2026
Apollo and Jefferies were among the laggards, dropping 8% and 10%, respectively.
—Sean Conlon,pia Singh, CNBC, 26 Feb. 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
While laggards optimize margins, leaders accelerate into new markets, building capabilities that compound.
—Mohamad Ali, Fortune, 19 Jan. 2026
Companies that moved early are already enjoying valuation premiums compared with laggards as markets increasingly price in regulatory risk, climate risk, and the opportunity created by low-carbon growth.
—Paul Polman, Time, 25 Nov. 2025
McKinsey researchers also found that the gap in digital transformation maturity between market leaders and laggards has increased by 60% over the past three years.
—Igor Rikalo, Forbes, 23 Jan. 2025
Rohan Goswami, semafor.com, 3 Mar. 2026
Apollo and Jefferies were among the laggards, dropping 8% and 10%, respectively.
—Sean Conlon,pia Singh, CNBC, 26 Feb. 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
While laggards optimize margins, leaders accelerate into new markets, building capabilities that compound.
—Mohamad Ali, Fortune, 19 Jan. 2026
Companies that moved early are already enjoying valuation premiums compared with laggards as markets increasingly price in regulatory risk, climate risk, and the opportunity created by low-carbon growth.
—Paul Polman, Time, 25 Nov. 2025
McKinsey researchers also found that the gap in digital transformation maturity between market leaders and laggards has increased by 60% over the past three years.
—Igor Rikalo, Forbes, 23 Jan. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for laggards
Noun
-
Chitons belong to the class Polyplacophora, a group of marine mollusks — distant relatives of snails, clams, and octopuses — distinguished by a series of overlapping shell plates running down their backs.—
Hanna Wickes,
Kansas City Star,
3 Mar. 2026
-
Chitons are distant relatives of snails, clams, and octopuses, distinguished by overlapping shell plates running down their backs.—
Hanna Wickes,
Miami Herald,
3 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Then came five Democratic stragglers.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
2 Mar. 2026
-
Jeremy told a few stragglers to catch up.—
Yiyun Li,
New Yorker,
1 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Laggards.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/laggards. Accessed 10 Mar. 2026.
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