sluggish
slugg·ish/ˈslʌɡɪʃ/adjective
sluggish is spelled S-L-U-G-G-I-S-H: 8 letters and 2 syllables (slugg·ish). It appears 1.8 times per million words in written English, the 20,906th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, sluggish means “Habitually idle and lazy; slothful; dull; inactive” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in sluggish?
| Letters | 8: S-L-U-G-G-I-S-H |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: slugg·ish |
| In writing | 1.8 times per million words; the 20,906th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is sluggish?
Sluggish appears 1.8 times per million words in written English, the 20,906th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce sluggish?
- /ˈslʌɡɪʃ/
- [ˈslʌɡɪʃ]
Sluggish has 2 syllables, split slugg·ish in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Mélange_a_trois-sluggish.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of sluggish
- sluggisher comparative
- more sluggish comparative
- sluggishest superlative
- most sluggish superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does sluggish mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Habitually idle and lazy; slothful; dull; inactive
a sluggish man
- 2
Slow; having little motion.
- 3
Having no power to move oneself or itself; inert.
- 4
Characteristic of a sluggard; dull; stupid; tame; simple.
- 5
Exhibiting economic decline, inactivity, slow, or subnormal growth.
Inflation has been rising despite a sluggish economy.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Sluggish in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | faul, schwach, inaktiv, lustlos, schwerfällig, bräsig |
| Portuguese | vadio, vagabundo , lento, moroso , inerte , devagar |
| Spanish | perezoso, haragán, huevón, desganado , lerdo, ralentizado |
| French | poussif, faiblard , rétamé, naze |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does sluggish come from?
From slug + -ish.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).