slow
pronunciation
How to pronounce slow in British English:
UK [sləʊ]
How to pronounce slow in American English:
US [sloʊ]
-
- Verb:
- lose velocity; move more slowly
- become slow or slower
- cause to proceed more slowly
-
- Adjective:
- not moving quickly; taking a comparatively long time
- at a slow tempo
- slow to learn or understand; lacking intellectual acuity
- (used of timepieces) indicating a time earlier than the correct time
- so lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness
- (of business) not active or brisk
-
- Adverb:
- without speed (`slow' is sometimes used informally for `slowly')
- of timepieces
Word Origin
- slow
- slow: [OE] The etymological notion underlying slow is ‘dullness, sluggishness’; ‘lack of speed’ is a secondary development. The word goes back to a prehistoric Germanic *slæwaz, which also produced Swedish slö and Danish sløv ‘dull, blunt’. The original idea of ‘sluggishness’ is better preserved in the derivative sloth [12] (etymologically ‘slow-ness’).=> sloth
- slow (adj.)
- Old English slaw "inactive, sluggish, torpid, lazy," also "not clever," from Proto-Germanic *slæwaz (cognates: Old Saxon sleu "blunt, dull," Middle Dutch slee, Dutch sleeuw "sour, tart, blunt," Old High German sleo "blunt, dull," Old Norse sljor, Danish sløv, Swedish slö "blunt, dull"). Meaning "taking a long time" is attested from early 13c. Meaning "dull, tedious" is from 1841. As an adverb c. 1500. The slows "imaginary disease to account for lethargy" is from 1843.
- slow (v.)
- 1550s, "make slower;" 1590s, "go slower," from slow (adj.). Related: Slowed; slowing. Old English had slawian (intransitive) "to be or become slow, be sluggish," but the modern use appears to be a 16c. re-formation.
Synonym
Example
- 1. They are making slow progress .
- 2. But it is slow work .
- 3. Government hiring has been slow .
- 4. Recovery was a slow process .
- 5. The economy will slow as lending cools .