Sluggish

Definition: Sluggish

Sluggish

Adjective

1. With little movement; very slow; "a sluggish stream".

2. (of business) not active or brisk; "business is dull (or slow)"; "a sluggish market".

3. Slow and apathetic; "she was fat and inert"; "a sluggish worker"; "a mind grown torpid in old age".

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "sluggish" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1258. (references)

Synonyms: Sluggish

Inactivity

Indolent, lazy, slothful, idle, lusk, remiss, slack, inert, torpid, sluggish, otiose, languid, supine, heavy, dull, leaden, lumpish; exanimate, soulless; listless; drony, dronish; lazy as Ludlam's dog.

Insensibility

Apathetic; leuco-, phlegmatic; dull, frigid; cold blooded, cold hearted; cold as charity; flat, maudlin, obtuse, inert, supine, sluggish, torpid, torpedinous, torporific; sleepy; (inactive); languid, half-hearted, tame; numbed; comatose; anaesthetic; stupefied, chloroformed, drugged, stoned; palsy-stricken.

Physical Inertness

Adjective: inert, inactive, passive; torpid; sluggish, dull, heavy, flat, slack, tame, slow, blunt; unreactive; lifeless, dead, uninfluential.

Slowness

Adjective: slow, slack; tardy; dilatory; (inactive); gentle, easy; leisurely; deliberate, gradual; insensible, imperceptible; glacial, languid, sluggish, slow paced, tardigrade, snail-like; creeping; Verb: reptatorial.

Crosswords: Sluggish

Perhaps you are a naturally slothful person, sluggish and indolent, a dawdling flaneur, content to waste his life spread eagled on pillows forever indulging himself in the pleasures of the palm (The League of Gentlemen; writing credit: Jeremy Dyson; Mark Gatiss)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Books

• German consumption turns sluggish [DOWNLOAD: PDF] (reference)

• Home Run Has-Been: The Case of the Sluggish Slugger (Kinetic City Super Crew Series) (reference)

  (more book examples)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Anopheles earlei is found in woodland pools, bogs, marshes and along sluggish streams. The vector status of this species is unknown. Credit: CDC.

Weed-choked irrigation ditches result in sluggish streams. Such environments may contain larvae of Culex tarsalis and Anopheles punctipennis. Credit: CDC.

Stranger things have happened. Hold on, and you may walk over the sluggish animal up there yet / Th. Nast. Credit: Library of Congress.

Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Sluggish birth

The last sins oozed forth, sluggish, filthy

The rain crust broke and the dust lifted up out of the fields and drove gray plumes into the air like sluggish smoke

In the student sensuality is a sluggish habit of mind

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Health

Other symptoms of constipation include feeling bloated, uncomfortable, and sluggish. (references)

This happens because the colon's muscle contractions are slow or sluggish, causing the stool to move through the colon too slowly. (references)

However, for those who have made lifestyle changes and are still constipated, doctors may recommend laxatives or enemas for a limited time. These treatments can help retrain a chronically sluggish bowel. (references)

Business

Although plagued in the past few years by sluggish growth, the economy is slowly recovering. (references)

Consumer demand remained sluggish in 1997 and the construction sector was a drag on the overall economy. (references)

Due to recent slow growth in computer applications, accounting for approximately 80 percent of DRAM sales, local demand for DRAMs has been sluggish. (references)

Civil Liberties

Philippines

Muslims, who are concentrated in the most impoverished parts of western Mindanao, claim economic discrimination, reflected in the Government's failure to provide sufficient funding to stimulate southwestern Mindanao's sluggish economic development. (references)

Economic History

Philippines

In previous years, the government propped up the sector while private construction was sluggish. (references)

Costa Rica

They also face an error-prone land titling system and sluggish judicial system vis-� -vis civil cases. (references)

Political Economy

Seychelles

Overall growth remained sluggish, largely due to shortages of foreign exchange and the pervasive presence of inefficient state enterprises. (references)

SOUTH AFRICA

Progress in attracting higher levels of foreign direct investment (FDI) has been disappointing, hindered by the loss of confidence of international investors in emerging markets assets and South Africa's sluggish pace of privatization. (references)

JAPAN

Until this year, the government response to Japan's sluggish economy has been an expansionary fiscal policy, through a series of supplemental budgets, emergency spending packages (largely concentrated on public works), and special loan guarantees to stem the tide of corporate bankruptcies. (references)

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Expressions using "sluggish": be sluggish ♦ sluggish economic growth ♦ the engine is sluggish. Additional references.

Albanian

i ngalët (slack, slow), i ngadaltë (creeping, deliberate, dilatory, lingering, long, slack, slow), i avashtë (dull, slow, tardy), i amullt (stagnant). (various references)

Arabic 

‏كسلان وبطىء, ‏كسول (dull, idle, inactive, indolent, inert, languid, languorous, lazy, lethargic, lumpish, passive, shiftless, slothful, slow, sluggard, sluggardly, supine), ‏واهن (atonal, atonic, crazy, doddery, effete, enervate, feeble, flagging, impotent, infirm, invalidity, lackadaisical, languid, languorous, lower, nerveless, powerless, prostrate, rusty, shrivelled, sickly, spiritless, stunted, tender, weak, weakling, weakly, wimp), ‏تثاقل (slack), ‏خامل (idle, inactive, lazy, sleepy, torpid), ‏رخو (flabby, flaccid, lax, limp, loose, quaggy, slack, soft), ‏راكد (flat, remaining, slack, stagnant, static), ‏بليد (bovine, dim, doltish, dopey, dull, inanimate, lethargic, light minded, lumpish, obtuse, passive, silly, sleepy, slow, slow moving, stupid, thick-headed, torpid, unworkable). (various references)

Bulgarian 

слаб (defective, dim, effeminate, faint, feeble, flabby, flaccid, flat, flimsy, impotent, irretentive, lame, lean, light, limp, liny, low, meager, meagre, mean, mild, nerveless, off, pale, poor, puny, queasy, rickety, scanty, scrannel, sick, sinewless, slack, sleazy, slender, slight, slim, slow, small, soft, spare, spineless, tender, tenuous, thin, thready, unable, washy, watery, weak, weakish, weakly), в застой, мързелив (dozy, faineant, idle, indolent, lazy, shiftless, work-shy), муден (backward, bovine, costive, dilatory, floppy, inactive, inert, laggard, languid, long, phlegmatic, slothful, slow, stagnant, sulky, sullen, supine, tardy), бездеен (helter-skelter, idle, inactive, indolent, inert, inoperative, passive, supine, torpid), бавнотечащ, бавнодействуващ, бавен (creeping, deliberate, dense, dilatory, languid, leaden, leisurely, lingering, long, lumpish, pernickety, plodding, slack, slow, stagnant, stopping, tardigrade, tardy, unready), пипкав (bungling, clumsy, having the pip, laggard, pokey, slow). (various references)

Chinese 

遲緩 (slow), � � (blunt, stupid, to wiggle), 緩 (gradual, slow, to postpone), 慢吞吞, 滯 . (various references)

Czech

neteèný (apathetic, impassive, indifferent, indolent, inert, lackadaisical, lethargic, passive, phlegmatic, sleepy, supine), loudavý (dawdling, lagging), lenivý (lazy, slothful). (various references)

Dutch

moeizaam (with effort). (various references)

Farsi 

کند (Ballast, Blunt, Dilatory, Dull, Haunt, Heavy, Late, Lazy, Leaden, Slack, Slow, Tardy, Unapt, Unready), کساد (Inactive, Insensitive, Off, Slack, Stagnant, Tight), لش (Bulk), گرانجان , تنبل (Idle, Inactive, Indolent, Laze, Lazy, Lazybones, Sloth, Slothful, Slouch, Slow, Tardy), اهسته رو (Clammy, Plodder), بطی (Cumbersome, Dilatory, Slack). (various references)

Finnish

nahjusmainen (slow), kuhnaileva (dilatory, loitering). (various references)

French

stagnant (slack), ramollo, paresseux (sloth, slothful, slug, sluggard), mou (slack), léthargique, calme (slack), apathique. (various references)

German

träge (dull, idle, idly, indolent, indolently, inert, inertly, languid, languidly, languorous, languorously, lazily, lazy, lethargic, lethargically, phlegmatic, shiftless, slack, slothful, slow, sluggardly, stagnant, supine, supinely, tardy, torpid), faul (addled, bad, decayed, dubious, dud, feeble, fishy, flimsy, foul, idle, idly, indolent, laggard, lame, lazily, lazy, off, phoney, phony, putrid, rotten, rottenly, slothful, sluggard, sluggardly, sluggishly, sorry, suspicious, uneasy). (various references)

Greek 

βραδύσ (adagio, largo, leisurely, lento, slack, slow, tardy), νωχελής (lazy), νωθρόσ (indolent, laggard, languid, logy, lymphatic, poky, sluggardly, stick in the mud), μαχμουρλής (drowsy), άτονος (atonic), αργοκίνητοσ (slowcoach), δυσκίνητος. (various references)

Hebrew 

עצל� י (lazy, slothful), עצל (idle, indolent, lazy, slothful, sluggard), א�"יש (apathetic, inactive, indifferent, inert, lackadaisical, listless, torpid, unconcerned), � רפ�" (indolent, inert, lazy, slack). (various references)

Hungarian

renyhe (inert, torpid), lomha (pokey, slack, slothful, sullen, torpid), tunya (bovine, inactive, laggard, languid, lazy, slack, slothful, sluggard, stolid, torpid), lassú folyású. (various references)

Indonesian

malas (indolent, lazy, slack). (various references)

Italian

pigro (idle, Idler, lazy, rottenly, slack, slothful, sluggard, truant), lento (dull, loose, slack, slow, tardy), indolente (idle, indolent, lazy, slothful), fiacco (faint, limp, slack, slow, weak, weary). (various references)

Japanese Kanji 

緩慢 (dull, slow). (various references)

Japanese Katakana 

ふかっぱつ (dull, inactive, lethargic, quiet, slow), か�"ま�" (dull, ebb and flow, slow), ていめい (conclusion of a treaty of alliance, forming an alliance, hanging low, hovering around, imperial order, low hanging), ていちょう (captain, courteous, dullness, hospitable, inactive, low tide, low tone, polite, slack, slow, undertone, weakness), � るい (dull, feel heavy, languid). (various references)

Korean 

게으른 (lazy). (various references)

Manx

litcheragh (dronish, idle, idling, lazy, workshy), lhiastagh (haggler, idle, inactive, indolent, languid, latecomer, lethargic, lethargical, loath, moribund, remiss, slothful). (various references)

Pig Latin

uggishslay.(various references)

Portuguese

sem energia (boneless, characterless, nerveless, pithless, sapless, slack, spineless, spiritless, supine), vagaroso (behindhand, easygoing, leisurely, lingering, longstanding, slow, stalwart, stick-in-the-mud, tardy), preguiçoso (chair warmer, dawdler, laggard, lazy, lazy guy, lie-a-bed, loafer, loller, lubberly, otiose, remiss, slack, slacker, slothful, sluggard, work-shy), moroso (lagging, slow, tardy), mole (boneless, flaccid, floppy, limp, loppy, molluscous, mushy, pappy, pithless, pulpy, sleepy, soapy, soft, spineless, spiritless, squashy, supine, tender, weak), lerdo, lento (blockish, dilatory, drowsy, dull, heavy, laggard, lagging, languid, largo, lazy, lentous, plodding, ponderous, slack, slow, slowpoke, stick-in-the-mud, tardy). (various references)

Romanian

trândav (easeful, idle, inactive, lazy, sluggard, truant, vacant), tembel (nut, slacker, slothful, sluggard), mototol (ball, clew, slack, sleepy), lent (deliberate, easy going, slow, slowly), leneş (bum, dull, easeful, easy going, idle, Idler, idly, lazily, lazy, lazybones, loafer, loiterer, otiose, shiftless, slothful, sluggard, torpid, truant, vacant), inert (dull, inactive, inanimate, indifferent, inert, inertly, lazy, nerveless, passive), indiferent (all one, all the same, anywhere, apathetic, apathetical, careless, chill, cool, dull, impassive, indifferent, indifferently, inhuman, insensible, insensitive, lackadaisical, languid, listless, nonchalant, numb, perfunctory, phlegmatic, pococurante, reckless, remiss, slack, slow, stolid, unconcerned, unimportant, unmoved), bleg (blockhead, dolt, drooping, flabby, flaccid, foolish, half hearted, remiss, sheepish, shy, silly, skulker, sloppy, timid, weak, weakly), apatic (apathetic, apathetical, apathetically, indifferent, indolently, insensible, lackadaisical, lackadaisically, languid, languidly, listless, moony, sleepy, supine, tardy, torpid), adormit (benumbed, dead, dopey, dormant, drowsy, drowsyhead, dullard, enervated, flat, mope, sleeper, sleepily, sleeping, sleepy, tame, torpid), încet (at a slow pace, dawdling, dead alive, deliberate, dilatory, dull, dull-headed, easy, faint, gentle, hist, lagging, lazily, lazy, leasurely, leisurely, lingering, low, slack, slow, slow but steady, slowly, soft, still, tardy, time-taking, weak). (various references)

Russian 

вялый (apathetic, apathetical, dopey, dopy, drowsy, exanimate, flabby, flaccid, flat, indolent, inert, insipid, lackadaisical, languid, languorous, lethargic, listless, remiss, saggy, sapless, slack, spiritless, stolid, torpid), медленный (creeping, dilatory, long, slow, slow-acting, tardy, unhurried), медлительный (costive, dilatory, laggard, lingering, slack, slow, slowcoach, tardy). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian

spor (bovine, contest, controversy, dilatory, laggard, lazy, litigation, logy, poky, quarrel, slow, tardy, unhurried), trom (bovine, heavy-footed, indolent, lackadaisical, laggard, leaden, listless, logy, otiose, slow, torpid), pipav (pernickety, slow), lenj (indolent, lazy, otiose, slothful, work-shy). (various references)

Spanish

perezoso (Daw, deadbeat, idle, indolent, lackadaisical, layabout, lazy, rottenly, shiftless, sloth, slothful, slowcoach, slowpoke, sluggard), moroso (defaulter, defaulting, overdue, slow, slow payer), lento (deliberate, dilatory, dour, easy, gentle, heavy, labored, laboured, lingering, pokey, poky, shuffling, slow, slow witted), inactivo (deedless, dormant, dull, inactive, quiescent, slumberous, stagnant, static), flojo (dull, fading, feeble, flabby, flagging, floppy, fluffily, forceless, groggy, idle, lame, lax, limber, limp, loose, loosely, milk and water, nerveless, sagging, slack, soft, supine, thin, threadbare, tipsily, unfirm, unformal, ungirt, unsteadily, watery, weak, wishy washy, wobbly, wonky), flemático (matter of fact, phlegmatic, phlegmatical, slow, stolid). (various references)

Swedish

trög (blockish, dull, flat, inactive, inert, languid, languorous, lifeless, lumpish, obtuse, plodding, purblind, slow, slowcoach, soggy, stick in the mud, stolid, tardy, unapt), långsam (dull, gradual, inert, languid, lingering, slow, tardy). (various references)

Thai

ขี้เกียจ (laze away, otiose, slothful, sluggard). (various references)

Turkish

sıkıcı (arid, bald, boring, burdensome, constringent, cut and dried, damnable, dead alive, disconcerting, ditch water, ditchwater, drab, dry, dryasdust, dull, dusty, gaunt, gloomy, grave, grotty, humdrum, inanimate, insipid, irksome, oppressive, poky, ponderous, prose, prosy, slow, soul-destroying, soulless, stodgy, stuffy, tedious, tiresome, trying, uncongenial, unexeciting, unpleasant, unreadable, unsensational, vapid, waste, watery, wearisome), tembel (asleep, bonelazy, do nothing, do-little, drone, gold brick, idle, idle fellow, Idler, inactive, indolent, inert, laggard, languid, languorous, lazy, lazy person, lazybones, loon, lounger, slack, slacker, slothful, slouch, slug, sluggard, stagnant, tired, torpid, workshy), miskin (lazy, shiftless, slacker, sleepy, slothful, slowcoach, sluggard, squalid), mızmız (crab, crybaby, fussy, grouchy, hesitant, kicker, pernickety, picky, querulous), mıymıntı (drowsy, slack, sleepy, slowpoke, slug, stagnant, stick in the mud), halsiz (drooping, droopy, exhausted, faint, groggy, infirm, languid, languorous, prostrate, run down, senile, very tired, washy, weak, weakly, wonky), cansız (apathetic, apathetical, bloodless, colorless, dead, dead pan, dying, exanimate, feckless, flagging, heartless, inanimate, lackadaisical, lackluster, lacklustre, languid, lifeless, listless, poky, sapless, singsong, soulless, spiritless, stagnant, toneless, torpid, weak, wishy washy, wishywashy), ağır kanlı (indolent, phlegmatic, phlegmatical, stolid), ağır ilerleyen, ağır akan, ağır (arduous, back breaking, badly, bovine, burdensome, contemptuous, cumbersome, cumbrous, deep, deliberate, dignified, drudging, dull, fabian, foul, grave, grievous, hard, harsh, heavily, heavy, hefty, indigestible, languid, lazy, lumbering, massive, measured, muzzy, not fast, onerous, oppressive, plodding, ponderous, repressive, rich, scorching, scornful, serious, serious minded, seriously, severe, severely, sharp, slack, slashing, slow, slow moving, slowly, smashing, stodgy, strenuous, strong, swingeing, toilful, toilsome, unwholesome, unwieldy, weighty). (various references)

Turkmen 

зaman (idle, lazy). (various references)

Ukrainian

застійний (stagnant), ледачий (easeful, idle, lazy, slothful), повільний (costive, creeping, laggard, lagger, lagging, languid, leisurely, lingering, logy, slack, slow, snail-paced, sulky). (various references)

Vietnamese 

lờ phờ (bloodless, logy), lờ đờ (lackluster, lacklustre), chậm chạp; uể oải. (various references)

Welsh

swrth (heavy, sullen), marwaidd (lifeless), llesg (faint, feeble, languid), hwyrdrwm (drowsy, dull), dioglyd (indolent, lazy). (various references)

hebes, languens, languente, languentium, lentis, lento, reside, segnes, segnis, tardus. (various references)

slugge, sluggi. (various references)

Derivations

Words beginning with "sluggish": sluggishly, sluggishness, sluggishnesses. (additional references)

Misspellings

"Sluggish" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: slugish. (additional references)

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

-3 letters: glugs, hilus, iglus, shuls, sighs, slugs, slush, sughs, sushi.

-4 letters: ghis, gigs, glug, guls, gush, hiss, hugs, iglu, lugs, lush, shul, sigh, slug, sugh, ughs.

-5 letters: ghi, gig, gul, his, hug, lis, lug, sis, ugh.

+2 letters: sluggishly.

+4 letters: sluggishness.