sluggish
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Adjective[edit]
sluggish (comparative sluggisher or more sluggish, superlative sluggishest or most sluggish)
- Habitually idle and lazy; slothful; dull; inactive
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:lazy
- a sluggish man
- 1724, Pharmacopolæ Justificati: Or, Apothecaries Vindicated from the Imputation of Ignorance. […], London: […] J. Roberts, […], OCLC 990820804, page 6:
- [I]f he leaves the School poſſeſs'd of a ſluggiſh indolent Diſpoſition, and of Learning rather forc'd upon him than choſen, it is probable he will forget what he brought thence; but if he be active, emulous and aſpiring, he will certainly find Time for Reading and Thinking; for tho' it be a homely, it is a true Saying, that where there is a Will, there is a Way.
- c. 1874, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Ovid in Exile
- And the sluggish land slumbers in utter neglect.
- 1910 January 12, Ameen Rihani, “On the Wharf of Enchantment”, in The Book of Khalid, New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead and Company, published October 1911, OCLC 6412012, book the first (In the Exchange), page 34:
- He helps us to understand the insignificant points which mark the rapid undercurrents of the seemingly sluggish soul of Khalid.
- Slow; having little motion.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:slow
- Antonym: nimble
- 1604 March 25 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), Benjamin Jonson [i.e., Ben Jonson], “Part of the Kings Entertainment in Passing to His Coronation [The Coronation Triumph]”, in The Workes of Ben Jonson (First Folio), London: […] Will[iam] Stansby, published 1616, OCLC 960101342, page 850:
- Vp thou tame River, wake; / And from the liquid limbes this ſlumber ſhake: / Thou drownſ't thy ſelfe in inofficious ſleepe; / And theſe thy ſluggish waters ſeeme to creepe, / Rather than flow.
- 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.
- Having no power to move oneself or itself; inert.
- 1695, John Woodward, An Essay toward a Natural History of the Earth and Terrestrial Bodies
- Matter, being impotent, sluggish, and inactive, hath no power to stir or move itself.
- 1695, John Woodward, An Essay toward a Natural History of the Earth and Terrestrial Bodies
- Characteristic of a sluggard; dull; stupid; tame; simple.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:stupid
- Exhibiting economic decline, inactivity, slow or subnormal growth.
- Inflation has been rising despite sluggish economy.
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
habitually idle and lazy; slothful; dull; inactive
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slow; having little motion
having no power to move oneself or itself; inert
characteristic of a sluggard; dull; stupid; tame; simple