Sluggish
/ˈslʌɡ.ɪʃ/noun
Moving, acting, or working slowly and with little energy.
Did you know?The word is built on the older noun *slug*, and that same root helped turn a simple slow-moving creature into a lasting metaphor for heaviness, laziness, and delayed energy in English.
Etymological Timeline
Late Middle English
English
sluggysh / sluggish
“Slow, inactive, or lazy”
Middle English
English
slugge
“A sluggard; a slow, sluggish person or creature”
Middle Low German
MLG
slugge
“A sluggard or slow-moving thing”
Middle Dutch
Dutch
slogge / slugge
“Slow, heavy, clumsy”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*slug-
“Slow, slack, or sluggish”