slack
adjective · noun · verb · adverb
Simple meaning
Not active or busy, successful.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
slakIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈslæk
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.
adjective
Not active or busy, successful, or violent.
normally said of a rope
Lax; not tense; not firmly extended.
Moderate in some capacity.
Moderate in speed.
Weak; not holding fast.
Moderately warm.
noun
uncountable
The part of anything that hangs loose, having no strain upon it.
In particular, a shallow dell or hollow; a dip in the surface of terrain, such as between hills.
countable
A low-lying marsh or a pool, especially a tidal or intermittent one which periodically fills and drains.
A flat-bottomed, hollow zone within a sand-dune system that has developed over impervious strata, sometimes due to erosion or blow-out of the dune system; its flat base level is therefore close to or at the permanent water-table level, and therefore has rich, marshy flora, with Salix species (willows) as typical woody colonisers.
countable
A valley, or small, shallow dell; a sag or saddle in a ridge.
A place in England
verb
To refuse to work as hard as one is supposed to.
adverb
Slackly.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Lacking diligence or care; not earnest or eager.
Used this way, slack is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly warm, approving pull. It carries warmth, so it reads as personal rather than detached.
- Emotional tone
- Positive
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Keen and enthusiastic
- Usage feel
- Warm and expressive
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use slack
- “Suddenly they were in a slack and the water was motionless.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Pants for casual wear.
A person who shirks his work or duty (especially one who tries to evade military service in wartime).
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Casual dress consisting of slacks and matching jacket.
The occurrence of relatively still water at the turn of the (low) tide.
Become less in amount or intensity.
Make less active or fast.
A stretch of water without current or movement.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: part of anything that hangs loose
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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.