slow

  • (a) not moving quickly; taking a comparatively long time
    • a slow walker
    • the slow lane of traffic
    • her steps were slow
    • he was slow in reacting to the news
    • slow but steady growth
  • (r) without speed ("slow" is sometimes used informally for "slowly")
    • he spoke slowly
    • go easy here--the road is slippery
    • glaciers move tardily
    • please go slow so I can see the sights
    slowly, tardily, easy,
  • (a) at a slow tempo
    • the band played a slow waltz
  • (r) of timepieces
    • the clock is almost an hour slow
    • my watch is running behind
    behind,
  • (s) slow to learn or understand; lacking intellectual acuity
    • so dense he never understands anything I say to him
    • never met anyone quite so dim
    • "although dull at classical learning, at mathematics he was uncommonly quick"- Thackeray
    • dumb officials make some really dumb decisions
    • he was either normally stupid or being deliberately obtuse
    • worked with the slow students
    dumb, dense, obtuse, dim, dull,
  • (a) (used of timepieces) indicating a time earlier than the correct time
    • the clock is slow
  • (s) so lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness
    • a boring evening with uninteresting people
    • the deadening effect of some routine tasks
    • a dull play
    • his competent but dull performance
    • a ho-hum speaker who couldn't capture their attention
    • what an irksome task the writing of long letters is - Edmund Burke
    • tedious days on the train
    • the tiresome chirping of a cricket - Mark Twain
    • other people's dreams are dreadfully wearisome
    boring, deadening, ho-hum, irksome, tedious, tiresome, wearisome, dull,
  • (s) (of business) not active or brisk
    • business is dull (or slow)
    • a sluggish market
    sluggish, dull,

Verbs

Synonyms

decelerate slow down slow up retard slowly tardily easy behind slacken slack dumb dense obtuse dim dull boring deadening ho-hum irksome tedious tiresome wearisome sluggish

Antonyms

fast accelerate quicken speed up speed apace chop-chop quickly rapidly speedily

See also

gradual unhurried

Words of close approximity

slob sloe slog slop slot
SLE SLS sly
slab slag slam slap slat Slav slaw slay sled slew slim slip slit slob sloe slog slop slot slub slue slug slum slur slut
slowcoach slowdown slow down slower slowest slowgoing slowing slow lane slow loris slowly slow match slow motion slow-moving slowness slowpoke slow time scale slow up slow virus slow-witted slow-wittedness slowworm