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📉 A drop in activity 🪢 Loose part 😴 To avoid work 🪨 Coal dust 🐢 To slow down 🔧 To loosen 🪢 Loose or not tight 🦆 Wet soft land 🪟 Not strict 🌊 Calm water 🧪 To add water
to slack

to slack

3 5.3
To reduce effort, speed or attention
  • verb
  • /slæk/
translation icon : disminuir
  • The coach warned the team not to slack during practice to maintain their skills.
  • slacken the pace
  • demand slackened
  • begin to slack

But if you slack in one of the rounds, you just make the next round harder.

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Examples

  • Cos the second you slack off... boom!

    Tales from the Hood (1995)

  • We mustn't slack now everything's going so well for us.

    Come Play with Me (1977)

  • Yeah, I guess because if they work any harder than that, then the other person is just going to slack off instead.

  • But if you slack in one of the rounds, you just make the next round harder.

    Andrew Huberman

  • But I think the main thing is to not get, not slack off on precautions.

  • Don't slack off because you feel sorry for us.

    Bring It On (2000)

  • Suspense is one element you don't want to slack off with.

    Blog text (8)

  • Calvin felt the pressure on him slacken as his attackers turned away in surprise.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • However, I had slacked off at the final leg of revision due to extreme burnout.

    The Math Sorcerer

  • The younger man's offense slacked off to almost nothing.

    Academic text (2000)

Synonyms

to slow
vsto slack
957 1.0

Make something move or happen at a lower speed

is broader and also applies to easing strictness, effort, or attention
to slow down
vsto slack
687 1.4

To move or act more slowly

also applies to reducing effort, attention, or strictness as well as speed
to let up
vsto slack
54 3.8

To become less strong, especially for bad weather, pain, or pressure

is used more generally for lowering activity, effort, or strictness
to relax
vsto slack
26 3.2

To make rules less strict

covers easing activity and attention as well, not only rule changes
to abate
vsto slack
23 6.8

To become less strong or severe and to make something do the same

is a common neutral term also used for lowering effort, speed, or strictness
to die away
vsto slack
8 4.2

To become quieter and then stop

usually means a lasting reduction in activity or attention rather than complete disappearance
to slow up
vsto slack
8 2.7

Move or make something move less quickly

also refers to reducing effort, strictness, or attention beyond mere pace
to slack off
vsto slack
  • Informal
3 3.9

To become less strong or busy

focuses more broadly on lowering strictness, speed, or attention as well
to slacken
vsto slack
1 4.9

Become or make slower, for example the wind

also applies to lowering attention, effort, or strictness beyond just speed
to slack up
vsto slack
  • UK
1 5.7

Move, act, or work less quickly and with less energy

also includes lowering effort, attention, or strictness, not just speed
to slacken off
vsto slack
3.9

To become less strong or active

is used also for reducing strictness or attention, not only physical effort

Antonyms

to intensify
110 4.0

Make something stronger or more intense

Phrasal Verbs

to slack off
  • Informal
3 3.9

To become less strong or busy

to cut slack
  • Informal
1 5.5

Treat someone less strictly because they are having trouble

to slack up
  • UK
1 5.7

Move, act, or work less quickly and with less energy

Compounds

slack water
  • Specialized
1 7.9

A time when a tidal river or sea is nearly still as the tide turns

slack tide
  • Specialized
1 7.0

A short time when the water is almost still before the current changes direction

slack Alice
  • Offensive
9.9

A person who is often lazy and late finishing tasks

slack suit
  • Archaic
6.3

A casual matching set of trousers and jacket worn for informal occasions

How Active

to strive
156 3.7
work
∞ 1.0
to slack
3 5.3
to loaf
7 6.2
to idle
1 3.2

Surface Forms

slack infinitive
slacked past
slacked past participle
slacking present participle
slacks third person singular

Etymology

Slack meaning to become less active or slow down comes from the old slak for 'slow' or 'loose', so to slack is to 'slow down' your speed or effort.