Slow — Meaning, Definition & Synonyms

adjective adverb verb /ˈslō/

Meaning & Definition of Slow

Slow (adjective)

  1. mentally dull, stupid
  2. naturally inert or sluggish
  3. lacking in readiness, promptness, or willingness

Slow (adverb)

  1. slowly

Slow (verb)

  1. to make slow or slower, slacken the speed of —often used with down or up
  2. to go or become slower

Slow (adjective) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

  1. moving or proceeding at less than the normal, desirable, or required speed

    "because of the holiday, traffic to the beach was particularly slow"

    "slow readers"

    similar: crawling, creeping, dallying, dawdling, dilatory, dillydallying, dragging, laggard, lagging, languid, leisurely, poking, poky, sluggish, snaillike, snail-paced, tardy, unhurried
    related: deliberate, measured, inactive, inert, lethargic, loafing, lounging, lingering, loitering, tarrying, ambling, heavy-footed, inching, plodding, shuffling, slow-footed, strolling, decelerating, slowing, filibustering, procrastinating, stalling
    opposite: barreling, bolting, breakneck, breathless, brisk, careering, dizzy, fast, fleet, flying, hasty, hurrying, lightning, meteoric, quick, racing, rapid, rocketing, running, rushing, scooting, scudding, scurrying, snappy, speeding, speedy, swift, warp-speed, whirling, whirlwind, whisking, zipping
    near: expeditious, prompt, ready, accelerated, hastened, quickened, hurried, rushed

  2. not having or showing an ability to absorb ideas readily

    "we love our bulldog though he's a little slower than our German shepherd"

    similar: airheaded, birdbrained, bonehead, boneheaded, brain-dead, brainless, bubbleheaded, chuckleheaded, dense, dim, dim-witted, doltish, dopey, dorky (slang), dull, dumb, dunderheaded, empty-headed, fatuous, gormless (chiefly British), half-witted, knuckleheaded, lamebrain, lunkheaded, mindless, oafish, obtuse, opaque, pinheaded, senseless, simple, slow-witted, soft, softheaded, stupid, thick, thick-witted, thickheaded, unintelligent, unsmart, vacuous, weak-minded, witless
    related: cretinous, feebleminded, simpleminded, boobish, foolish, idiotic, imbecile, moronic, ignorant, illiterate, lowbrow, uneducated, uninformed, unintellectual, untaught, unthinking, absurd, asinine, balmy, cockeyed, crackpot, crazy, cuckoo, daffy, daft, dippy, dotty, featherheaded, fool, half-baked, harebrained, insane, kooky, loony, mad, nonsensical, nutty, preposterous, sappy, screwball, silly, tomfool, unwise, wacky, zany, fallacious, illogical, invalid, irrational, unreasonable
    opposite: apt, brainy, bright, brilliant, clever, fast, hyperintelligent, intelligent, keen, nimble, quick, quick-witted, sharp, sharp-witted, smart, supersmart, ultrasmart
    near: ingenious, resourceful, acute, astute, discerning, insightful, keen, knowing, perceptive, percipient, perspicacious, sagacious, sage, sapient, savvy, wise, cerebral, erudite, highbrow, intellectual, knowledgeable, learned, literate, scholarly, thinking, well-read, educated, informed, schooled, skilled, trained, crafty, cunning, foxy, shrewd, wily, judicious, prudent, sane, sensible, sound, logical, rational, reasonable, valid

  3. lacking in gaiety, movement, or animation

    "a slow day on Wall Street"

    similar: comatose, dead, sleepy
    related: lethargic, sluggish, torpid, dormant, fallow, free, idle, inactive, inert, inoperative, latent, off, vacant
    opposite: alive, animated, astir, bustling, busy, buzzing, flourishing, humming, lively, thriving, vibrant
    near: abounding, overflowing, swarming, teeming, thronging

  4. causing weariness, restlessness, or lack of interest

    "the first half of the movie is slow, but then it gets exciting"

    similar: arid, boring, colorless, drab, dreary, drudging, dry, dull, dusty, flat, heavy, ho-hum, humdrum, jading, jejune, leaden, mind-numbing, monochromatic, monotonous, numbing, old, pedestrian, ponderous, stale, stodgy, stuffy, stupid, tame, tedious, tiresome, tiring, uninteresting, wearisome, weary, wearying
    related: aseptic, barren, blah, dullish, pleasureless, prosaic, prosy, soggy, spiritless, blank, earthbound, gray, inanimate, pallid, pedantic, sterile, suspenseless, undramatic, uneventful, unexciting, unimaginative, uninspiring, unnewsworthy, unrewarding, unsensational, unspectacular, annoying, bothersome, irksome, irritating, longsome, palling, draining, enervating, exhausting, fatiguing, wearing, debilitating, enfeebling, demoralizing, discouraging, disheartening, dispiriting, common, commonplace, ordinary, tepid, unexceptional, unsurprising, vapid, cumbersome, lumbering, plodding, poky
    opposite: absorbing, engaging, engrossing, gripping, interesting, intriguing, involving, riveting
    near: amazing, astonishing, astounding, awesome, eye-opening, fabulous, marvelous, sensational, spectacular, surprising, wonderful, wondrous, animating, breathtaking, electrifying, energizing, enlivening, exciting, exhilarating, galvanizing, hair-raising, inspiring, invigorating, rip-roaring, rousing, stimulating, stirring, thrilling, amusing, diverting, entertaining, moving, poignant, touching, alluring, attracting, attractive, beguiling, bewitching, captivating, charming, enchanting, enthralling, entrancing, fascinating, mesmerizing, spellbinding, suspenseful, arresting, provocative, tantalizing

Slow (verb) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

  1. to cause to move or proceed at a less rapid pace

    "if you don't slow your delivery down a bit, your speech will be over too soon"

    similar: brake, decelerate, retard, slacken
    related: halt, stop, encumber, hamper, handicap, hinder, hobble, hold back, hold up, impede, inhibit, obstruct, set back, tie up, bottleneck, arrest, check, constrain, curb, rein, restrain, baffle, foil, frustrate, sabotage, thwart
    opposite: accelerate, hasten, hurry, quicken, rush, speed (up), step up
    near: drive, encourage, goad, propel, push, spur, stir, urge, advance, aid, dispatch, ease, expedite, facilitate, forward, further, help

Slow (adverb) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

  1. at a pace that is less than usual, desirable, or expected

    "you need to go slow with this experiment, or you'll make mistakes"

    similar: laggardly, leisurely, pokily, slowly, sluggishly, tardily
    related: carefully, cautiously, deliberately, purposefully, heavily, ploddingly
    opposite: apace, briskly, fast, fleetly, full tilt, hastily, meteorically, quick, quickly, rapidly, snappily, speedily, swift, swiftly
    near: immediately, posthaste, presto, promptly, pronto, readily, soon, impetuously, impulsively, rashly, recklessly, abruptly, suddenly

Related Entry: Slow-witted (adjective)

Slow-witted is a different word from Slow. The synonyms below are for slow-witted, not for slow.

  1. not having or showing an ability to absorb ideas readily

    "all but the most slow-witted readers will have solved the mystery long before they reach the book's final chapter"

    similar: airheaded, birdbrained, bonehead, boneheaded, brain-dead, brainless, bubbleheaded, chuckleheaded, dense, dim, dim-witted, doltish, dopey, dorky (slang), dull, dumb, dunderheaded, empty-headed, fatuous, gormless (chiefly British), half-witted, knuckleheaded, lamebrain, lunkheaded, mindless, oafish, obtuse, opaque, pinheaded, senseless, simple, slow, soft, softheaded, stupid, thick, thick-witted, thickheaded, unintelligent, unsmart, vacuous, weak-minded, witless
    related: cretinous, feebleminded, simpleminded, boobish, foolish, idiotic, imbecile, moronic, ignorant, illiterate, lowbrow, uneducated, uninformed, unintellectual, untaught, unthinking, absurd, asinine, balmy, cockeyed, crackpot, crazy, cuckoo, daffy, daft, dippy, dotty, featherheaded, fool, half-baked, harebrained, insane, kooky, loony, mad, nonsensical, nutty, preposterous, sappy, screwball, silly, tomfool, unwise, wacky, zany, fallacious, illogical, invalid, irrational, unreasonable
    opposite: apt, brainy, bright, brilliant, clever, fast, hyperintelligent, intelligent, keen, nimble, quick, quick-witted, sharp, sharp-witted, smart, supersmart, ultrasmart
    near: ingenious, resourceful, acute, astute, discerning, insightful, keen, knowing, perceptive, percipient, perspicacious, sagacious, sage, sapient, savvy, wise, cerebral, erudite, highbrow, intellectual, knowledgeable, learned, literate, scholarly, thinking, well-read, educated, informed, schooled, skilled, trained, crafty, cunning, foxy, shrewd, wily, judicious, prudent, sane, sensible, sound, logical, rational, reasonable, valid

Related Entry: Slow burn (phrase)

Slow burn is a different word from Slow. The synonyms below are for slow burn, not for slow.

  1. an intense emotional state of displeasure with someone or something

    "The toddler moved from a slow burn to an all-out rage in a matter of seconds."

    similar: anger, angriness, birse (chiefly Scottish), choler, furor, fury, indignation, irateness, ire, lividity, lividness, mad, madness, mood (archaic), outrage, rage, spleen, wrath, wrathfulness
    related: aggravation, annoyance, exasperation, irritation, vexation, acrimoniousness, acrimony, animosity, antagonism, antipathy, bile, biliousness, bitterness, contempt, embitterment, empoisonment, enmity, grudge, hostility, rancor, envy, jaundice, jealousy, pique, resentment, malevolence, malice, spite, vengefulness, venom, vindictiveness, virulence, vitriol, belligerence, contentiousness, contrariness, crankiness, disputatiousness, hot-headedness, irascibility, irascibleness, irritability, orneriness, pugnaciousness, pugnacity, quarrelsomeness, querulousness, blowup, flare, flare-up, outburst, chafe, dander, dudgeon, huff, pet, rise, ruffle, temper, air rage, road rage, delirium, heat, passion, warmth
    opposite: delight, pleasure
    near: calmness, forbearance, patience

Related Entry: Slow (down or up) (verb)

Slow (down or up) is a different word from Slow. The synonyms below are for slow (down or up), not for slow.

  1. as in decelerate

    similar: decelerate, amble, ease, inch, lumber, plod, saunter, shuffle, stagger, stroll, filibuster, procrastinate, stall, temporize, hang (around or out), idle, loaf, loll, lounge, fiddle (around), fool around, mess around, monkey (around), play, potter (around), putter (around), trifle, crawl, creep, dally, dawdle, delay, diddle, dillydally, drag, lag, linger, loiter, lollygag, mope, poke, shilly-shally, tarry
    opposite: barrel, bolt, career, course, dash, fly, hasten, hotfoot (it), hurry, race, rip, rocket, run, rush, scoot, scud, scurry, speed, tear, whirl, whisk, whiz, zip, bowl, breeze, dart, hump, hurtle, hustle, scramble, stampede, gallop, jog, sprint, trot, accelerate, quicken, speed (up), catch up, fast-forward, outpace, outrun, outstrip, overtake

Related Entry: Slow (down) (verb)

Slow (down) is a different word from Slow. The synonyms below are for slow (down), not for slow.

  1. as in sink, weaken

    similar: flag, sink, slacken, weaken, drop, fall, slump, abate, contract, decrease, de-escalate, die (down), diminish, dwindle, ebb, lessen, let up, lower, moderate, recede, relent, shrink, subside, taper, taper off, wane, sag, slip
    opposite: rocket, shoot (up), soar, balloon, burgeon, enlarge, escalate, expand, increase, mount, multiply, mushroom, proliferate, snowball, swell, wax, crest, peak, surge

Related Entry: Slow-footed (adjective)

Slow-footed is a different word from Slow. The synonyms below are for slow-footed, not for slow.

  1. as in plodding, inching

    similar: ambling, heavy-footed, inching, plodding, shuffling, lingering, loitering, tarrying, strolling, inactive, inert, lethargic, loafing, lounging, decelerating, slowing, deliberate, measured, filibustering, procrastinating, stalling, crawling, creeping, dallying, dawdling, dilatory, dillydallying, dragging, laggard, lagging, languid, leisurely, poking, poky, slow, sluggish, snaillike, snail-paced, tardy, unhurried
    opposite: barreling, bolting, breakneck, breathless, brisk, careering, dizzy, fast, fleet, flying, hasty, hurrying, lightning, meteoric, quick, racing, rapid, rocketing, running, rushing, scooting, scudding, scurrying, snappy, speeding, speedy, swift, warp-speed, whirling, whirlwind, whisking, zipping, expeditious, prompt, ready, accelerated, hastened, quickened, hurried, rushed

Related Entry: Go-slow (noun)

Go-slow is a different word from Slow. The synonyms below are for go-slow, not for slow.

  1. as in sit-in, slowdown

    similar: job action, sick-out, sit-down, sit-in, slowdown, sympathetic strike, sympathy strike, lockout, strike, walkout

Synonyms, Thesaurus & Another Word for Slow

The most common words with a similar meaning to Slow:

Slang: dorky
Chiefly British: gormless
crawling, creeping, dallying, dawdling, dilatory, dillydallying, dragging, laggard, lagging, languid, leisurely, poking, poky, sluggish, snaillike, snail-paced, tardy, unhurried, airheaded, birdbrained, bonehead, boneheaded, brain-dead, brainless, bubbleheaded, chuckleheaded, dense, dim, dim-witted, doltish, dopey, dull, dumb, dunderheaded, empty-headed, fatuous, half-witted, knuckleheaded, lamebrain, lunkheaded

Antonyms & Opposite Words for Slow

Words with the opposite meaning of Slow:

barreling, bolting, breakneck, breathless, brisk, careering, dizzy, fast, fleet, flying, hasty, hurrying, lightning, meteoric, quick, racing, rapid, rocketing, running, rushing, scooting, scudding, scurrying, snappy, speeding, speedy, swift, warp-speed, whirling, whirlwind

Related Words for Slow

deliberate, measured, inactive, inert, lethargic, loafing, lounging, lingering, loitering, tarrying, ambling, heavy-footed, inching, plodding, shuffling, slow-footed, strolling, decelerating, slowing, filibustering, procrastinating, stalling, cretinous, feebleminded, simpleminded, boobish, foolish, idiotic, imbecile, moronic

Near Antonyms of Slow

expeditious, prompt, ready, accelerated, hastened, quickened, hurried, rushed, ingenious, resourceful, acute, astute, discerning, insightful, knowing, perceptive, percipient, perspicacious, sagacious, sage, sapient, savvy, wise, cerebral, erudite, highbrow, intellectual, knowledgeable, learned, literate

Word Forms of Slow

Inflections: slowed, slowing, slows

Derived words: slowish (adjective), slowness (noun)

Origin & Etymology of Slow

Middle English, from Old English slāw; akin to Old High German slēo dull

First known use: before 12th century

Vocabulary Lists & Topics for Slow

Words & Phrases Containing Slow

slow as molasses, slow cooker, slow-footed, slow match, slow-motion, slow motion, slow-pitch

Frequently Asked Questions about Slow

What does "Slow" mean?

"Slow" means mentally dull, stupid. As an an adjective, an adverb and a verb, it is defined as: mentally dull, stupid. It has 6 distinct senses.

What is another word for "Slow"?

Other words for "Slow" include crawling, creeping, dallying, dawdling, dilatory, dillydallying, dragging and laggard. The best synonym depends on which meaning of "Slow" you intend.

What are different ways to say "Slow"?

There are 271 words and phrases with a similar meaning to "Slow". Common alternatives include crawling, creeping, dallying, dawdling, dilatory, dillydallying, dragging, laggard, lagging and languid.

What is the opposite of "Slow"?

Antonyms of "Slow" include barreling, bolting, breakneck, breathless, brisk, careering, dizzy and fast. Near antonyms include expeditious, prompt, ready and accelerated.

How do you use "Slow" in a sentence?

Examples of "Slow" in a sentence: "because of the holiday, traffic to the beach was particularly slow"; "slow readers"; "we love our bulldog though he's a little slower than our German shepherd".

Is "Slow" a noun, verb, or adjective?

"Slow" can be used as an adjective, an adverb and a verb, depending on the context.

Is "Slow" useful for IELTS, TOEFL, and other English exams?

As an A1-level word, "Slow" is typical of Cambridge A1 Movers (Young Learners), TOEIC Listening & Reading 120+.

How do you pronounce "Slow"?

"Slow" is pronounced /ˈslō/.