sluggish

Etymology

slug +‎ -ish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈslʌɡɪʃ/

Adjective

sluggish (comparative sluggisher or more sluggish, superlative sluggishest or most sluggish)

1. Habitually idle and lazy; slothful; dull; inactive

   a sluggish man

   And the sluggish land slumbers in utter neglect. -- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

   • 1911: Ameen Rihani, The Book of Khalid, p.37

     He helps us to understand the insignificant points which mark the rapid undercurrents of the seemingly sluggish soul of Khalid.

2. Slow; having little motion
   • 1913, Paul Laurence Dunbar, At Sunset Time

     We float upon a sluggish stream,

   • We ride no rapids mad,
   • While life is all a tempered dream
   • And every joy half sad.
3. Having no power to move oneself or itself; inert.

   Matter, being impotent, sluggish, and inactive, hath no power to stir or move itself. -- Woodward

4. Characteristic of a sluggard; dull; stupid; tame; simple.
5. Exhibiting economic decline, inactivity, slow or subnormal growth.

   Inflation has been rising despite sluggish economy.