slow
not moving quickly; taking a comparatively long time
How often you will meet it
Rank 1,355 of 71,295 words measured. It occurs 13,543 times across 155,139 chapters — 0.006% of every word in the library.
What it means
adjective
- not moving quickly; taking a comparatively long time a slow walkerthe slow lane of traffic
- at a slow tempo the band played a slow waltz
- slow to learn or understand; lacking intellectual acuity also: dense, dim, dull, dumb, obtuse so dense he never understands anything I say to himnever met anyone quite so dim
- (used of timepieces) indicating a time earlier than the correct time the clock is slow
- so lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness also: boring, deadening, dull, ho-hum, irksome, tedious a boring evening with uninteresting peoplethe deadening effect of some routine tasks
- (of business) not active or brisk also: dull, sluggish business is dull (or slow)a sluggish market
verb
- lose velocity; move more slowly also: decelerate, slow down, slow up, retard The car decelerated
- become slow or slower also: slow down, slow up, slack, slacken Production slowed
slow in real books
Each sentence below was written by a published author and is taken from a different book in our library. Open one to read the passage it came from, with narration.
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I may seem grave, and dull, and slow.
Punchinello, Volume 1, No. 08, May 21, 1870 · Various · Chapter 1
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I wanted to tell you of my contentment, but being slow of speech I--couldn't.
The Courage of the Commonplace · Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews · Chapter 1
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At last when he was told that he must die by slow torture he begged for protection.
The Red Record Tabulated Statistics · Ida B. Wells-Barnett · Chapter 1
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Vrouw Vedder hummed a slow little tune of her own, as she went back into her kitchen.
The Dutch Twins · Lucy Fitch Perkins · Chapter 1
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True, some people complained that business was dull and slow; but those people, he thought, were merely “bears.”
Other People's Money · Emile Gaboriau · Chapter 1