# slow

> English word · Adjective · IPA /sləʊ/ · frequency rank #1,504

## Definitions
1. Taking a long time to move or go a short distance, or to perform an action; not quick in motion; proceeding at a low speed.
2. Not happening in a short time; spread over a comparatively long time.
3. Of reduced intellectual capacity; not quick to comprehend.
4. Not hasty; not tending to hurry; acting with deliberation or caution.
5. Behind in time; indicating a time earlier than the true time.
6. Lacking spirit; deficient in liveliness or briskness.
7. Not busy; lacking activity.

## Etymology
From Middle English slow, slaw, from Old English slāw (“sluggish, inert, slothful, late, tardy, torpid, slow”), from Proto-West Germanic *slaiw, from Proto-Germanic *slaiwaz (“blunt, dull, faint, weak, slack”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *sleyH-u- (“bad”).
Cognate with Scots slaw (“slow”), West Frisian sleau (“slow, dull, lazy”), Dutch sleeuw (“blunt, dull”), Low German slee (“dull, sluggish”), German schlehe, schleh (“dull, exhausted, faint”), Danish sløv (“dull, torpid, drowsy”), Swedish slö (“slack, lazy”), Icelandic sljór (“dim-witted, slow”).

## Easily confused with
- **so** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slow-vs-so)
- **SW** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slow-vs-sw)
- **son** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slow-vs-son)
- **sox** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slow-vs-sox)
- **sol** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slow-vs-sol)
- **soy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slow-vs-soy)
- **sly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slow-vs-sly)
- **sow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slow-vs-sow)
- **SOS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slow-vs-sos)
- **SOB** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slow-vs-sob)
- **sod** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slow-vs-sod)
- **som** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slow-vs-som)
- **SLR** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slow-vs-slr)
- **soe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slow-vs-soe)
- **sop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slow-vs-sop)
- **soi** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slow-vs-soi)
- **SoA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slow-vs-soa)
- **sou** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slow-vs-sou)
- **sor** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slow-vs-sor)
- **sot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slow-vs-sot)

## Common misspellings (6)
`lsow`, `sllow`, `sloww`, `slwo`, `solw`, `sslow`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/slow