slow to respond
3
3.5
- idiom
:
lento para responder
- Instead, Washington asked for more oil from its other producers, but they were slow to respond.
However, Republicans were initially first to start criticizing Powell for being too slow to respond to inflation, and they were right.
- However, Republicans were initially first to start criticizing Powell for being too slow to respond to inflation, and they were right.
- And men, it's interesting to note we're equally slow to respond to the baby whether it was name Andrea or Jonathan.
- Unfortunately, the absolute finicky it couldn't find the light set way too often, and the system was a bit slow to respond at times.
Examples
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On the night of the attack, the CIA security team was slow to respond to the consulate's call for help.
Blog text (32) -
Both Apple and Google have been slow to respond to the criticism of the app.
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Insurgents post claims quickly, and the military has been slow to respond, waiting to get the full story.
Blog text (21) -
The Obama team, for whatever reason, has been flatfooted and slow to respond to the lies.
Blog text (28) -
The government was slow to respond to the insurgency, displaying little sense of the dimension and nature of the problem.
Academic text (1991) -
Some health experts complain that the state has been slow to respond to the problem.
-
The police would be slow to respond if they responded at all.
Synonyms
1
6.7
Not quick to notice things or begin actions
In a slow way that makes tasks finish late
Antonyms
How Fast
233
2.0
28
3.4
- Texting
4
4.4
3
3.5
1
1.3
10
4.9
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'taking a long time to reply' is directly and transparently derived from 'slow' (taking more time) combined with 'respond' (to reply); the particle 'to' is just the infinitival/linking marker and adds no idiomatic meaning. This compositional adjective phrase is a common and predictable pattern across languages, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will understand it.
Etymology
The phrase slow to respond paints a clear picture: the word slow shows a delay and respond means to answer, like a sleepy person or a slow clock that takes a moment to react. So, it means 'taking a long time to reply or react'.