Stagnate

//ˈstæɡneɪt// adj, verb

adj, verb ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To cease motion, activity, or progress:; To cease to flow or run.

    "If the water stagnates, algae will grow."

  2. 2
    be idle; exist in a changeless situation wordnet
  3. 3
    To cease motion, activity, or progress:; To be or become foul from standing.

    "Air stagnates in a closed room."

  4. 4
    cease to flow; stand without moving wordnet
  5. 5
    To cease motion, activity, or progress:; To cease to develop, advance, or change; to become idle.

    "Ready-witted tenderness […] never stagnates in vain lamentations while there is any room for hope."

Show 2 more definitions
  1. 6
    cause to stagnate wordnet
  2. 7
    stand still wordnet
Adjective
  1. 1
    Stagnant.

Synonyms

All synonyms
idlebe a sidelinerbe stillcoastconstipatedecay

Antonyms

All antonyms
flow

Example

More examples

"Flowing water does not stagnate."

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin stāgnātus, past participle of stāgnō (“cover the land as a lake, stagnate”), from stāgnum (“pond, swamp”).

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