STAGNATING Synonyms: 54 Similar and Opposite Words

stagnating

adjective

as in lifeless

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Recent Examples of Synonyms for stagnating

Adjective

First came the stunned churchgoers surrounding the lifeless body lying under a pew.

— Lauren Mascarenhas, CNN Money, 24 Oct. 2026
Bur Bur’s oil is my holy elixir for dry, thinning, lifeless hair.

— Reece Andavolgyi, InStyle, 23 Oct. 2026

Definition of lifeless

Adjective

But when Cook finally got his turn in the 2024 season, the run game was mostly unproductive despite the flashes Cook showed during the offseason.

— Steven Johnson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 20 Oct. 2026
Too often, the vision is not clear, which causes leaders to have to micromanage and check in more often, which can lead to unproductive employees.

— Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 20 Oct. 2026

Definition of unproductive

Adjective

The land sales can provide a floor to EBITDA in the event of a fallow timber period.

— Sebastien Chasse, CNBC, 26 Oct. 2026
During the Covid pandemic, the staff voluntarily used their fallow time to repair some of the old pilgrim trails winding through the forest behind.

— Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 4 Sep. 2026

Definition of fallow

Adjective

In January, Sorrells created a cold case task force that is using advances in DNA technology to try to identify suspects in dormant homicide investigations.

— Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 24 Oct. 2026
Ryan Gosling is reviving one of his long-dormant side gigs just in time for Halloween.

— Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 23 Oct. 2026

Definition of dormant

Adjective

But Apple says that both the materials used and the actual nano-texture pattern are both different, changes that were necessitated by the fact that this is a foldable phone and not an inert glass slab.

— ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 27 Oct. 2026
If there were any more life to the filmmaking, this tension could least be interesting, but the results are both perky and inert, unreal but entirely unmoored in time and space.

— Guy Lodge, Variety, 17 Oct. 2026

Definition of inert

Adjective

Among the biggest changes in the country have to do with changes to corporate governance, including the encouragement of companies to eliminate idle cash and focus more on shareholder returns, that's meant to support growth.

— Sarah Min, CNBC, 27 Oct. 2026
Supply-chain congestion sometimes causes freight trains to sit idle, leaving them vulnerable to thieves in urban rail yards.

— Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 26 Oct. 2026

Definition of idle

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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stagnant

stagnating

stagnation

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“Stagnating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stagnating. Accessed 31 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of stagnating

adjective

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