Slow

/slaː/

Synonyms for "slow" (541 found)

Ranked by relevance and common usage.

Closest matches (109)

Adjective(14 words)

sluggish boring bureaucraticcreeping motiondampendanish stagnationdeadening decelerate delayeddeliberate disregarddeliberate effortdensedense trafficdifficult

after timealmost unheard-ofambling apathetic arid arrest arrested averse back backpedal backward backwater balking balky barren behindbehind the timesbehind timebehindhand belated

Show 59 more words

Adverb(1 words)

behind

Adjective(7 words)

boring careful cautious crawling creeping deliberate dilatory

Verb(6 words)

braked constipate decelerate decelerated deceleratingdecrease rotation

Noun(2 words)

brakes bullocky

Strong matches (162)

Adjective(16 words)

dim dull dumbgentle entrygradualgradual changegradual listinggradual political changegradual trajectorygradually ho-hum inefficient irksome largo late leisurely

dim witteddim-witted discourage disinclined dismaldo nothingdo-nothing doless doltish dopey dormant dragging draggydraw reindrearisome dreary dronish drony droopy drugged

Show 106 more words

dry dryasdust dulldull of minddull-headed dull-pated dull-witted dumb dunch dustyease offease upeasily easy easygoing effete elephantine empty enervated ergophobic etiolated exanimate fade faineant faltering falteringlyfar onfat-witted feeble feebleminded flagging flatfoot draggingfoot-dragging gentle gentlygood-for-nothinggradual gross-headed grudging half-witted halting haltingly hamper hasteless heavy hebetudinousheld uphesitant hinderho humho-hum hobbled hobblinghold backhold in checkhold uphollow humdrumhung upidle idly imbecile impedein a bindin abeyancein low gearin march timein slow motionin slow tempoinactive inane inanimate indifferent indisposed indolent indolently inert inexcitable infrequent insipid interfere jaded jammed jejunekeep backlackadaisical lacklustre lag laggard lagging languid languidly languorous languorously late latish lax lazy leaden leisurelylet downlet uplethargic lifeless limited

Verb(1 words)

discourages

Adjective(16 words)

draggy dreich dull gastropodous glacial gradual heavy-footed inactive inching inert labored languid languorous lead-footed leaden lethargic

Adverb(1 words)

easy

Noun(2 words)

glacial valley cross sectiongradual process

Related words (270)

limping limpingly lingering lingeringly listless loath loitering loiteringly lollygagginglose groundlose momentumlose speedlow spiritedlow-spirited lumbering lumpish measurable measured micawberish moderate

Show 187 more words

moderately monotonous moratory moribund moronicnever on timenonaggressivenone too soonnot with itnumb obstruct obstructed obtuse old-fashioned old-fogyish opaque opposeout of dateout of itoverdue pale pallid parasitic pedestrian pepless perceptible perfunctory phlegmatic plodding pointless pokily poking pokingly poky ponderous pooped prevent procrastinating procrastinative procrastinatory progressive quiet rare reef reinrein inrelax relaxed relaxedly reluctant reluctantly remiss renitent restive retard retarded rusty sated sauntering scarce scroungingseldom met withseldom seenset backshiftless shuffling simple simpleminded slackslack offslack upslacken sleepy slothfulslow as deathslow as molassesslow as slowslow downslow toslow upslow wittedslow-crawling slow-foot slow-going slow-legged slow-moving slow-paced slow-poky slow-running slow-sailing slow-stepped slow-witted slowly sluggish sluggishly snail-paced snaillike soft solemn somnolent soporific sparse spiritless sponging square staggering stagnant stagnating stay steady stem sterile stiff stodgy stolid stop stopped straggling strolling stuffy stultified stunt stupid superficial supinetake in sailtake it easytame tardily tardy tarryingly tasteless tedious tentative tentatively thickthick wittedthick-brained thick-headed thick-pated thick-witted thickheaded thickskulled throttlethrottle downtiresome toddling torpid tortoiselike tottering trudging turtlelike uncommonunder easy sailunenterprising unenthusiastic uneventful unfrequent unhasty unhurried unhurriedly unimaginative unintelligent uninteresting unique unlively unproductive unprogressive unpunctual unready unresponsive untimely unusual unwilling unzealous vapid vegetable vegetative waddling wan wearisome wearywith agonizing slownesswith deliberationwooden work-shy world-weary

Adjective(26 words)

low-speed lumbering moderate plodding pokey ponderous prudent slothful slothlikeslow as a snailslow as christmasslow as molassesslow as molasses in januaryslowfooted sluggish stately steady stupid subglacial sullen

Show 6 more words

tardigrade tardy tedious testudineous torpid unspeedy

Adjective(15 words)

moderate obtuse obtusest pokiest prolonged slackensluggish growthsluggish movementsluggish stridesluggishly tedious tiresome unhurried wearisome witless

Noun(13 words)

more lethargicmost gradual political changeprocess stagnationretarding retards sipping slithering slogging slowing snailing thrashes throttlesweigh down

Verb(7 words)

retard slack slackenslow downslow upslowed slows

Adverb(2 words)

slowly tardily

Choosing the right synonym

Closest matches in this entry: sluggish, after time, almost unheard-of, ambling, apathetic.
gradual: 'Gradual' implies steady, incremental progression. It's neutral or even positive, a gradual recovery is reassuring.
Sentence evidence is available for slow, so synonym choice can be checked against real usage rather than a flat word list.
Ranking signals come from wordnet, opengloss, moby, derived_reverse, and related lexical sources.

Synonym selection checklist

Match the part of speech before comparing meanings.
Check whether the synonym changes intensity, formality, or emotional tone.
Read the replacement inside the full sentence, not just beside "slow".
Prefer the clearest word over the most unusual word when writing for speed or comprehension.

When not to replace "slow"

Keep "slow" when the sentence already sounds natural, when a synonym would add unintended emphasis, or when readers need the most familiar wording. A synonym should clarify or sharpen the message, not simply make the sentence look more varied.

If two options seem close, choose the one that best matches the audience and purpose of the sentence.

Replacement workflow

1. Preserve meaning

Choose a synonym only if it keeps the core idea of "slow" intact in the sentence you are editing.

2. Tune tone

Check whether the replacement sounds more formal, casual, emotional, technical, or forceful than the original word.

3. Re-read context

Read the full sentence after the swap. Keep the synonym only when the sentence becomes clearer or more precise.

Review note: Synonym lists are ranked with lexical data and reviewed for practical writing value. Use the comparison notes, sentence evidence, and source labels together; a high-ranking synonym can still be wrong when the audience, register, or grammar changes.

Final fit check

After choosing a replacement for "slow", read the sentence once for meaning and once for rhythm. The best synonym should feel natural in the full sentence, not only accurate in a word list.

If the synonym makes the sentence slower, vaguer, or more dramatic than intended, keep "slow" or choose a simpler alternative from the closest-match group.

How these synonyms differ

gradual - 'Gradual' implies steady, incremental progression. It's neutral or even positive, a gradual recovery is reassuring.
leisurely - 'Leisurely' reframes slowness as intentional enjoyment, a leisurely stroll is slow on purpose, not by limitation.
sluggish - 'Sluggish' adds a negative judgment, it implies lethargy or underperformance, not just a measured pace.
unhurried - 'Unhurried' suggests calm composure, someone moving slowly because they choose to, not because they can't go faster.

Related word relations

OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.

7 relation types

More general

15 entries

adverb of mannerchange speedcognitive traitdecelerate decreasedecrease speeddiminisheconomic conditionfall lessen retardslow downslow upspeed weaken

More specific

12 entries

crawl creep dawdle delayed gradualgradual growthlanguidlylow comprehensionploddinglyslow reasoningsluggishsluggish recovery

Collocations

11 entries

learn slowlymove slowlyread slowlyslow growthslow motionslow paceslow progressslow rateslow readingthink slowlywork slowly

Inflections

5 entries

slowed slower slowest slowing slows

Derivations

4 entries

slower slowest slowly slowness

Antonyms

1 entries

fast

similar

25 entries

adagio andantebumper-to-bumperdilatory drawn-out gradual inactive laggard larghetto larghissimo largo lazy lentissimo lento long-play long-playing

Showing 16 of 25 words.

Translations

30 translations across 18 languages.

Aragonese

2 entries

lento adj (spread over a comparatively long time)
lento adj (lacking in promptness; acting with deliberation)

Bulgarian

2 entries

му́ден adj (lacking in promptness; acting with deliberation)
провле́чен adj (spread over a comparatively long time)

Czech

1 entries

pomalý adj (spread over a comparatively long time)

Finnish

2 entries

hidas adj (spread over a comparatively long time)
hidas adj (lacking in promptness; acting with deliberation)

French

3 entries

lent adj (spread over a comparatively long time)
lent adj (lacking in promptness; acting with deliberation)
tardif adj (lacking in promptness; acting with deliberation)

German

3 entries

Zeit lassen adj (lacking in promptness; acting with deliberation)
langsam adj (spread over a comparatively long time)
zurückhaltend adj (lacking in promptness; acting with deliberation)

Greek

2 entries

ανέτοιμος adj (lacking in promptness; acting with deliberation)
αργόσυρτος adj (spread over a comparatively long time)

Irish

1 entries

leasc adj (lacking in promptness; acting with deliberation)

Italian

1 entries

lento adj (spread over a comparatively long time)

Latvian

1 entries

lēns adj (spread over a comparatively long time)

Macedonian

1 entries

бавен adj (spread over a comparatively long time)

Māori

2 entries

autō adj (spread over a comparatively long time)
hōtoa adj (spread over a comparatively long time)

Ngazidja Comorian

1 entries

mpesi adj (lacking in promptness; acting with deliberation)

Portuguese

1 entries

lento adj (spread over a comparatively long time)

Spanish

1 entries

lento adj (spread over a comparatively long time)

Swahili

4 entries

aste adj (spread over a comparatively long time)
aste adj (lacking in promptness; acting with deliberation)
pole adj (spread over a comparatively long time)
pole adj (lacking in promptness; acting with deliberation)

Tibetan

1 entries

བྲེལ་བ་མེད་པ adj (lacking in promptness; acting with deliberation)

Ukrainian

1 entries

пові́льний adj (spread over a comparatively long time)

Sample sentences

30 total sentences available.

Tatoeba + Wiktionary

Your watch is ten minutes slow.

Source: tatoeba (17107)

Business is so slow these days.

Source: tatoeba (18694)

For somebody who feels rushed all the time, I sure make slow progress.

Source: tatoeba (20321)

How slow you are!

Source: tatoeba (24951)

Showing 4 of 30 available sentences.

Common questions

What are the closest synonyms for "slow"?

Closest matches include sluggish, after time, almost unheard-of, ambling, apathetic.

How is "gradual" different from "slow"?

'Gradual' implies steady, incremental progression. It's neutral or even positive, a gradual recovery is reassuring.

How should I check whether a synonym fits "slow"?

Compare the replacement against real sentence context. This entry includes sample sentences so you can check tone, grammar, and meaning before swapping words.

More for "slow"

Meaning

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