Slowworm

//ˈsləʊwɜː(ɹ)m// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A small Old World lizard, Anguis fragilis, often mistaken for a snake, having no legs and small eyes.

    "Well, sir, it may be we shall have some better orations of it anon: well, Ile watch you as narrowly as ever you were watcht, and Ile play with you as the nightingale with the slowworme;[…]"

  2. 2
    small burrowing legless European lizard with tiny eyes; popularly believed to be blind wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
blindwormanguis fragilisblindwormdeaf adderhazelwormlong-cripple

Example

More examples

"A slowworm is a limbless lizard, not a snake."

Etymology

From Middle English sloworm (possibly influenced by slow), from Old English slāwyrm (“slow-worm, blindworm”), from *slā, related to Norwegian slo (“slow-worm”), Swedish slå (“slow-worm”) + wyrm (“worm, snake”). Compare Swedish ormslå.

Related phrases

anguis fragilisold world

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.