Slack — meaning, pronunciation & more

Definition

dust consisting of a mixture of small coal fragments and coal dust and dirt that sifts out when coal is passed over a sieve

a noticeable deterioration in performance or quality

Pronunciation

🇺🇸American English

/slˈæk/

🇬🇧British English

/slˈak/

🇮🇳Indian English

/slˈak/

1 syllable Say it as /slˈæk/.

Examples

the team went into a slump
a gradual slack in output
a drop-off in attendance

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

loose relax abate slackness slow up falloff slump slack water quag slow down falling off quagmire slacken die away mire slack off let up slow slake drop-off lax slack up morass

Parts of Speech

noun	dust consisting of a mixture of small coal fragments and coal dust and dirt that sifts out when coal is passed over a sieve
noun	a noticeable deterioration in performance or quality “the team went into a slump”
noun	a stretch of water without current or movement “suddenly they were in a slack and the water was motionless”
noun	a soft wet area of low-lying land that sinks underfoot
noun	the quality of being loose (not taut) “he hadn't counted on the slackness of the rope”
noun	a cord or rope or cable that is hanging loosely “he took up the slack”
verb	avoid responsibilities and work, be idle
verb	be inattentive to, or neglect “He slacks his attention”
verb	release tension on “slack the rope”
verb	make less active or fast “He slackened his pace as he got tired”
verb	become slow or slower “Production slowed”
verb	make less active or intense
verb	become less in amount or intensity “The storm abated”
verb	cause to heat and crumble by treatment with water “slack lime”
adjective	not tense or taut “the old man's skin hung loose and grey”
adjective	flowing with little speed as e.g. at the turning of the tide “slack water”
adjective	lacking in rigor or strictness “such lax and slipshod ways are no longer acceptable”

Word Forms

slack	verb	cause to heat and crumble by treatment with water
slump	verb	fall heavily or suddenly; decline markedly
drop off	verb	get worse
fall off	verb	fall heavily or suddenly; decline markedly
slack	adjective	flowing with little speed as e.g. at the turning of the tide
miry	adjective	(of soil) soft and watery
mire	verb	soil with mud, muck, or mire
quaggy	adjective	(of soil) soft and watery
slacker	noun	a person who shirks his work or duty (especially one who tries to evade military service in wartime)
slacking	noun	the evasion of work or duty
slack	noun	a cord or rope or cable that is hanging loosely
relaxation	noun	an occurrence of control or strength weakening
slowing	noun	a decrease in rate of change
slowdown	noun	the act of slowing down or falling behind
abatable	adjective	capable of being abated
abator	noun	a person who abates a nuisance
abatement	noun	an interruption in the intensity or amount of something
letup	noun	a pause during which things are calm or activities are diminished
looseness	noun	movement or space for movement
slackness	noun	the quality of being loose (not taut)
laxness	noun	the quality of being lax and neglectful
laxity	noun	the quality of being lax and neglectful

Around the World

Europe

🇩🇪German

locker

Staub, der aus einer Mischung kleiner Kohlefragmente sowie Kohlenstaub und Schmutz besteht, der herausfällt, wenn Kohle über ein Sieb geleitet wird

🇫🇷French

mou

poussière constituée d'un mélange de petits fragments de charbon et de poussière et de saleté de charbon qui est tamisée lorsque le charbon passe sur un tamis

🇪🇸Spanish

flojo

polvo que consiste en una mezcla de pequeños fragmentos de carbón y polvo y suciedad de carbón que se desprende cuando el carbón pasa por un tamiz

🇮🇹Italian

allentamento

polvere costituita da una miscela di piccoli frammenti di carbone e polvere e sporco di carbone che viene eliminata quando il carbone viene passato al setaccio

🇳🇱Dutch

slap

stof bestaande uit een mengsel van kleine steenkoolfragmenten en steenkoolstof en vuil dat eruit zift wanneer steenkool over een zeef wordt geleid

🇵🇹Portuguese

folga

poeira que consiste em uma mistura de pequenos fragmentos de carvão e poeira e sujeira de carvão que são peneiradas quando o carvão é passado por uma peneira

🇷🇺Russian

слабый

пыль, состоящая из смеси мелких фрагментов угля, угольной пыли и грязи, которая отсеивается при пропускании угля через сито

India

🇮🇳Hindi

ढीला

धूल, कोयले के छोटे टुकड़ों और कोयले की धूल और गंदगी के मिश्रण से बनी होती है जो कोयले को छलनी के ऊपर से गुजारने पर निकल जाती है

🇧🇩Bengali

শিথিল

ছোট কয়লার টুকরো এবং কয়লা ধুলো এবং ময়লার মিশ্রণের সমন্বয়ে গঠিত ধুলো যা একটি চালুনির উপর দিয়ে কয়লা পাস করার সময় বের হয়ে যায়

🇮🇳Tamil

மந்தமான

சிறிய நிலக்கரி துண்டுகள் மற்றும் நிலக்கரி தூசி மற்றும் அழுக்கு ஆகியவற்றின் கலவையை உள்ளடக்கிய தூசி, நிலக்கரியை ஒரு சல்லடையின் மீது செலுத்தும்போது சல்லடை

🇮🇳Telugu

బద్ధకం

చిన్న బొగ్గు శకలాలు మరియు బొగ్గు దుమ్ము మరియు ధూళి మిశ్రమంతో కూడిన దుమ్ము, బొగ్గును జల్లెడ మీదుగా పంపినప్పుడు బయటకు వస్తుంది

🇮🇳Marathi

सुस्त

कोळशाचे छोटे तुकडे आणि कोळशाची धूळ आणि घाण यांचे मिश्रण असलेली धूळ जी चाळणीतून कोळसा गेल्यावर बाहेर पडते

🇮🇳Gujarati

ઢીલું

ધૂળ જેમાં કોલસાના નાના ટુકડાઓ અને કોલસાની ધૂળ અને ગંદકીના મિશ્રણનો સમાવેશ થાય છે જે જ્યારે કોલસાને ચાળણીમાંથી પસાર કરવામાં આવે છે ત્યારે બહાર નીકળી જાય છે.

🇮🇳Kannada

ಆಲಸ್ಯ

ಸಣ್ಣ ಕಲ್ಲಿದ್ದಲಿನ ತುಣುಕುಗಳು ಮತ್ತು ಕಲ್ಲಿದ್ದಲಿನ ಧೂಳು ಮತ್ತು ಕೊಳಕುಗಳ ಮಿಶ್ರಣವನ್ನು ಒಳಗೊಂಡಿರುವ ಧೂಳು ಕಲ್ಲಿದ್ದಲನ್ನು ಜರಡಿ ಮೇಲೆ ಹಾಯಿಸಿದಾಗ ಹೊರತೆಗೆಯುತ್ತದೆ

🇮🇳Malayalam

മന്ദത

ചെറിയ കൽക്കരി ശകലങ്ങളും കൽക്കരി പൊടിയും അഴുക്കും ചേർന്ന മിശ്രിതം അടങ്ങുന്ന പൊടി, കൽക്കരി ഒരു അരിപ്പയ്ക്ക് മുകളിലൂടെ അരിച്ചെടുക്കുന്നു

🇮🇳Punjabi

ਢਿੱਲੀ

ਧੂੜ ਜਿਸ ਵਿੱਚ ਕੋਲੇ ਦੇ ਛੋਟੇ ਟੁਕੜਿਆਂ ਅਤੇ ਕੋਲੇ ਦੀ ਧੂੜ ਅਤੇ ਗੰਦਗੀ ਦਾ ਮਿਸ਼ਰਣ ਹੁੰਦਾ ਹੈ ਜੋ ਕੋਲੇ ਨੂੰ ਛੱਲੀ ਦੇ ਉੱਪਰੋਂ ਲੰਘਣ 'ਤੇ ਬਾਹਰ ਨਿਕਲ ਜਾਂਦੀ ਹੈ।

🇵🇰Urdu

سست

کوئلے کے چھوٹے ٹکڑوں اور کوئلے کی دھول اور گندگی کے مرکب پر مشتمل دھول جو کوئلہ چھلنی کے اوپر سے گزرنے پر باہر نکل جاتی ہے

East & Southeast Asia

🇨🇳Chinese

松弛

由小煤碎片和煤尘以及煤通过筛子时筛出的污垢的混合物组成的灰尘

🇯🇵Japanese

スラック

小さな石炭の破片と石炭をふるいにかけるときにふるい分けられる石炭粉塵と土の混合物からなる粉塵

🇰🇷Korean

느슨하게

석탄이 체를 통과할 때 걸러져 나오는 작은 석탄 조각과 석탄 먼지 및 흙의 혼합물로 구성된 먼지

🇻🇳Vietnamese

lười biếng

Bụi bao gồm hỗn hợp các mảnh than nhỏ và bụi than và chất bẩn được sàng lọc ra khi than được đưa qua sàng

🇹🇭Thai

หย่อน

ฝุ่นประกอบด้วยส่วนผสมของเศษถ่านหินขนาดเล็กและฝุ่นถ่านหินและสิ่งสกปรกที่ร่อนออกมาเมื่อถ่านหินถูกส่งผ่านตะแกรง

🇮🇩Indonesian

kendur

debu yang terdiri dari campuran pecahan kecil batubara dan debu serta kotoran batubara yang tersaring ketika batubara dilewatkan melalui saringan

🇵🇭Filipino

matumal

alikabok na binubuo ng pinaghalong maliliit na pira-piraso ng karbon at alikabok ng karbon at dumi na naaalis kapag ang karbon ay ipinapasa sa isang salaan

🇲🇾Malay

kendur

habuk yang terdiri daripada campuran serpihan arang batu kecil dan habuk arang batu dan kotoran yang diayak apabila arang batu disalurkan di atas penapis

Middle East

🇸🇦Arabic

الركود

غبار يتكون من خليط من شظايا الفحم الصغيرة وغبار الفحم والأوساخ التي تنخل عندما يتم تمرير الفحم فوق المنخل

🇮🇷Persian

سستی

گرد و غبار متشکل از مخلوطی از قطعات کوچک زغال سنگ و گرد و غبار زغال سنگ و خاک که وقتی زغال سنگ از روی الک عبور داده می شود، الک می شود.

🇹🇷Turkish

gevşek

Kömür bir elekten geçirildiğinde elenen, küçük kömür parçacıkları ile kömür tozu ve kirin karışımından oluşan toz

🇮🇱Hebrew

רָפוּי

אבק המורכב מתערובת של שברי פחם קטנים ואבק פחם ולכלוך הנפה החוצה כאשר פחם עובר על מסננת

Test Yourself1 / 3

What is the primary definition of the word 'slack'?

The primary meaning of 'slack' is 'dust consisting of a mixture of small coal fragments and coal dust and dirt that sifts out when coal is passed over a sieve'.

Which of the following sentences uses the word 'slack' in a grammatically correct way?

Using 'slack' in a noun/adjective form makes the first sentence correct.

In which domain is the word 'slack' most likely to appear as standard vocabulary?

'slack' is a standard word used primarily in general literature and formal communications.

Community Poll1 / 6

How often do you encounter the word 'slack' in your daily reading?

Very Often

Occasionally

Rarely

Never

Do you find 'slack' easy to spell?

Yes, very easy

Somewhat easy

A bit confusing

Extremely hard

In your opinion, does the word 'slack' have a positive, neutral, or gloomy tone?

Positive

Neutral

Gloomy

Vibrant

Which age group is most likely to use 'slack' in regular conversations?

Kids (3-12)

Teens (13-19)

Adults (20-60)

Seniors (60+)

How likely are you to use 'slack' in a professional email?

Very likely

Somewhat likely

Not very likely

Never

Would you classify 'slack' as formal, casual, or slang?

Formal

Casual

Slang

Archaic

Pick an option to see how others voted