sag
verb · noun
Simple meaning
To sink, in the middle, by its weight or under applied pressure, below a horizontal line or plane.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
sagIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈsæɡ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
To sink, in the middle, by its weight or under applied pressure, below a horizontal line or plane.
figuratively
To lose firmness, elasticity, vigor, or a thriving state; to sink; to droop; to flag; to bend; to yield, as the mind or spirits, under the pressure of care, trouble, doubt, or the like; to be unsettled or unbalanced.
by extension
To lean, give way, or settle from a vertical position.
transitive
To cause to bend or give way; to load.
Cause to sag
“The children sagged their bottoms down even more comfortably.”
To loiter in walking; to idle along; to drag or droop heavily.
noun
The state of sinking or bending; a droop.
A place where the surface (of a seat, the earth, etc) sinks or droops, like a depression or a dip in a ridge.
The difference in elevation of a wire, cable, chain or rope suspended between two consecutive points.
The difference in height or depth between the vertex and the rim of a curved surface, specifically used for optical elements such as a mirror or lens.
Acronym of Screen Actors Guild.
Alternative letter-case form of SAG ("Screen Actors Guild").
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To sink, in the middle, by its weight or under applied pressure, below a horizontal line or plane.
Used this way, sag is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use sag
- “There was a sag in the chair seat.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.