English - Etymology

From Middle English slow, slaw, from Old English slāw (“sluggish, inert, slothful, late, tardy, torpid, slow”), from Proto-Germanic *slaiwaz (“blunt, dull, faint, weak, slack”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)lew- (“limp”). Cognate with Scots slaw (“slow”), Dutch sleeuw (“blunt, dull”), Low German slee (“dull, sluggish”), German schlehe, schleh (“dull, exhausted, faint”), Danish sløv (“dull, torpid, drowsy”), Swedish slö (“slack, lazy”), Icelandic sljór (“dim-witted, slow”).

English - Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /sləʊ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /sloʊ/
• Rhymes: -əʊ

English - Adjective

slow (comparative slower, superlative slowest)

1. Taking a long time to move or go a short distance, or to perform an action; not quick in motion; proceeding at a low speed.

   a slow train;  a slow computer

2. Not happening in a short time; spread over a comparatively long time.
   • John Milton

     These changes in the heavens, though slow, produced / Like change on sea and land, sidereal blast.

3. Of reduced intellectual capacity; not quick to comprehend.

   John is very slow; he is ten seconds behind everybody else when it comes to math.

4. Not hasty; not precipitate; lacking in promptness; acting with deliberation.
   • The Bible, Prov. xiv. 29

     He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding.

5. (of a clock or the like) Behind in time; indicating a time earlier than the true time.

   That clock is slow.

6. Lacking spirit; deficient in liveliness or briskness.
7. (of a period of time) Not busy; lacking activity.

   It was a slow news day, so the editor asked us to make our articles wordier.

   I'm just sitting here with a desk of cards, enjoying a slow afternoon.

Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:slow
• (taking a long time to move a short distance): deliberate; moderate
• (not happening in a short time): gradual
• (of reduced intellectual capacity): dull-witted
• (acting with deliberation): dilatory, inactive, tardy, slothful, sluggish
• (lacking spirit): boring, dull

Antonyms

• (taking a long time to move a short distance): fast, quick, rapid, swift
• (of reduced intellectual capacity): prompt, quick
• (acting with deliberation): hasty, precipitate, prompt
• (lacking spirit): brisk, lively

Derived terms

Translations

English - Verb

slow (third-person singular simple present slows, present participle slowing, simple past and past participle slowed)

1. (transitive) To make (something) run, move, etc. less quickly; to reduce the speed of.
2. (transitive) To keep from going quickly; to hinder the progress of.
3. (intransitive) To become slow; to slacken in speed; to decelerate.

   • After about a minute, the creek bed vomited the debris into a gently sloped meadow. Saugstad felt the snow slow and tried to keep her hands in front of her.

Synonyms

• (keep from going quickly): delay, hinder, retard
• (become slow): decelerate, slacken

Derived terms

• slower
• slow up
• slow down

Translations

English - Noun

slow (plural slows)

1. Someone who is slow; a sluggard.
2. (music) A slow song.

English - Adverb

slow (comparative slower, superlative slowest)

1. Slowly.

   That clock is running slow.

   • Shakespeare

     Let him have time to mark how slow time goes / In time of sorrow.

English - Anagrams

• lows, owls, sowl

French - Etymology

From English

French - Noun

slow m (plural slows)

1. slow waltz

See also

• quick

French - External Links

• “slow” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Lower Sorbian - Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [slow]

Lower Sorbian - Noun

slow

1. genitive of slě

قافية