Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
slowworm

slowworm

9.9
A small lizard without legs that looks like a snake
  • noun
  • /ˈsloʊwɜːm/
  • UK
translation icon : lución
  • Unlike snakes, a slowworm has no legs and a shiny, smooth body.

Examples

  • I spotted a slowworm basking in the sun on the garden path.

  • When I dug in the soil, I was surprised to find a slowworm hiding under a rock.

  • The hours wriggle away, slimy as slowworms—quick, cold, and damp.

    Fiction book (1998)

Synonyms

blindworm
vsslowworm
  • UK
1 9.9

A small legless lizard with tiny eyes found in Europe under leaves

does not imply blindness and simply names the small legless lizard
Anguis fragilis
vsslowworm
  • Specialized
9.9

A small legless lizard that looks like a snake

is the common everyday name for the same small legless lizard

Surface Forms

slowworm singular
slowworms plural

Morphology

slowworm = slow + worm (opaque) = slow + worm

Although formed from 'slow' + 'worm', the modern meaning 'legless lizard' is not derivable from the components for most learners.

Etymology

Slowworm comes from the old words slow and worm, where worm used to mean 'snake' rather than the small garden worm. So it literally means 'slow snake', a handy image to remember that this legless lizard looks like a slow-moving snake even though it is not a true snake.