sluggish

English

Etymology

slug +‎ -ish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈslʌɡɪʃ/

Adjective

sluggish (comparative sluggisher or more sluggish, superlative sluggishest or most sluggish)

1. Habitually idle and lazy; slothful; dull; inactive

   a sluggish man

   And the sluggish land slumbers in utter neglect. (Can we date this quote by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow?)

   • 1911: Ameen Rihani, The Book of Khalid, p.37

     He helps us to understand the insignificant points which mark the rapid undercurrents of the seemingly sluggish soul of Khalid.

2. Slow; having little motion
   • 1913, Paul Laurence Dunbar, At Sunset Time

     We float upon a sluggish stream,

   • We ride no rapids mad,
   • While life is all a tempered dream
   • And every joy half sad.
3. Having no power to move oneself or itself; inert.

   Matter, being impotent, sluggish, and inactive, hath no power to stir or move itself. -- Woodward

4. Characteristic of a sluggard; dull; stupid; tame; simple.
5. Exhibiting economic decline, inactivity, slow or subnormal growth.

   Inflation has been rising despite sluggish economy.

Quotations

• So sluggish a conceit. -- John Milton

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:lazy
• See also Thesaurus:slow

Derived terms

Terms derived from sluggish

• sluggishly
• sluggishness

• sluggish schizophrenia
• unsluggish

Translations

habitually idle and lazy; slothful; dull; inactive

• Chamicuro: achwayi
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 懶惰 (zh), 懒惰 (zh) (lǎnduò)

• Finnish: hidas (fi), laiska (fi), veltto (fi)
• Galician: lerdo m, náparo m, harón m, zamarrón m
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: νωθρός (nōthrós)

• Irish: ceanntrom

• Maori: ukauka
• Polish: opieszały (pl) m
• Portuguese: vadio (pt), vagabundo (pt)
• Russian: лени́вый (ru) (lenívyj), медли́тельный (ru) (medlítelʹnyj)
• Slovene: len (sl)
• Spanish: perezoso (es), haragán (es), huevón (es), desganado (es), aburrido (es), inútil (es)
• Turkish: uyuşuk (tr), miskin (tr)

slow; having little motion

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 緩慢 (zh), 缓慢 (zh) (huǎnmàn)

• Dutch: langzaam (nl)
• Finnish: hidas (fi), hiljainen (fi), heikko (fi)
• French: poussif (fr) m, poussive (fr) f, faiblard (fr) m (familiar), faiblarde (fr) f
• Maori: pūtumu, hōtoa, pūroto, pūrotoroto, ukauka

• Portuguese: lento (pt), moroso (pt)
• Russian: ме́дленный (ru) (médlennyj)
• Slovene: počasen (sl)
• Spanish: lento (es), calmado (es), calmo (es)
• Turkish: aheste (tr), ağır (tr)

having no power to move oneself or itself; inert

• Finnish: jähmeä (fi), verkkainen (fi)
• French: rétamé (fr) m (slang), naze (fr) m, f (slang)
• Kurdish:

  Sorani: بێ تاقه‌ت‎‎ (ku) (bae tAqat)

• Maori: tūrūruhi

• Portuguese: inerte (pt)
• Russian: неповоротливый (ru) (nepovorotlivyj), инертный (ru) (inertnyj)
• Slovene: šibek (sl)
• Spanish: desganado (es) (persons), apagado (es) (persons, things), inerte (es)
• Turkish: durgun (tr), tutuk (tr)

characteristic of a sluggard; dull; stupid; tame; simple

• Finnish: hidas (fi), hidasälyinen (fi), verkkainen (fi)
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: νωθρός (nōthrós)

• Portuguese: devagar (pt)

• Russian: заторможенный (ru) (zatormožennyj)
• Spanish: lento (es), estúpido (es), tarado (es), pendejo (es) m
• Turkish: miskin (tr), tutuk (tr)