# slow

Pronunciation: say "SLOH" US /sloʊ/, UK /sləʊ/

## Adjective

1. Moving, acting, or happening at a low speed, so that something takes a comparatively long time.
   - Simple: Moving, acting, or happening without much speed, so that it takes a long time.
   - _Traffic was slow on the bridge during the evening rush._
   - _The slower runners finished nearly an hour after the winner._
4. Lacking activity or business; marked by few customers, events, or developments.
   - Simple: Not busy, with few customers or little going on.
   - _Sales are always slow in the weeks after the holidays._
   - _The emergency room had a slow night, with only a handful of patients._
5. Not hasty or inclined to hurry; acting with deliberation or caution rather than rushing.
   - Simple: Careful and not in a hurry when doing or deciding things.
   - _The judge was famously slow to issue rulings, preferring to weigh every argument._
   - _Investors who are slow to panic often weather downturns better than those who rush to sell._
7. Not quick to comprehend or learn; of reduced intellectual capacity. Usually a disparaging description. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: An unkind way to say that someone does not learn or understand things quickly.
   - _Teachers in that era dismissed struggling students as slow rather than offering them help._
   - _He wasn't slow. He just refused to pretend he understood things he didn't._
6. Deficient in spirit, liveliness, or briskness; lacking energy or animation.
   - Simple: Dull and boring, without much energy or excitement.
   - _The seminar turned slow after lunch, with half the audience nodding off._
   - _Critics panned the play's second act as slow and lifeless._
8. Behind the correct time; showing or indicating a time earlier than the true time.
   - Simple: Showing a time that is earlier than the real time.
   - _The station clock was three minutes slow, and several passengers missed their trains._
   - _Mechanical watches often become slow as their springs wind down._

## Verb

2. To reduce speed or become slower, or to make someone or something move, run, or proceed less quickly.
   - Simple: To go less fast, or to make something go less fast.
   - _The pilot slowed the plane for its final descent._
   - _Many DJs slow a track slightly so its tempo matches the next song._

## Adverb

3. At a low speed or pace; in an unhurried manner; slowly.
   - Simple: At a low speed, in a way that is not quick.
   - _The sign warned drivers to go slow through the work zone._
   - _She cooked the brisket low and slow for twelve hours._

## Noun

9. A song with an unhurried tempo, especially one suited to close or romantic dancing.
   - Simple: A song with a gentle, unhurried beat, often played for close dancing.

## Noun

10. A person who is sluggish or dawdling; one who habitually moves or acts without hurry; a sluggard. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: A person who is not quick and takes a long time to do things.

## Origin

From Middle English slow, from Old English slāw ("sluggish, slothful, tardy, slow"), from Proto-West Germanic *slaiw and Proto-Germanic *slaiwaz ("blunt, dull, faint, weak"), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *sleyH-u- ("bad"). It is related to Dutch sleeuw ("blunt, dull"), German schlehe ("dull, faint"), Swedish slö ("slack, lazy"), and Icelandic sljór ("slow").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/slow (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).