SLACK
What does "SLACK" mean?
Not taut or tight; loose, or lacking in activity, care, or effort.
Meanings
- Loose; not pulled or stretched tight. The rope hung slack between the two posts.
- Slow, dull, or lacking energy and effort. Business is slack in the off-season.
- The part of a rope or line that is not taut. Take up the slack before you hoist the sail.
- To slow down, ease off, or be lazy about a duty. Don't slack now - we're nearly finished. informal
- Casual trousers (in the plural, 'slacks'). He wore grey slacks and a linen shirt.
Word origin
From Old English 'slæc', meaning loose, careless, or lazy, from a Proto-Germanic root; related to Latin 'laxus' (loose), the source of English 'lax'.
Remember it
SLACK rhymes with 'lack' - and slack effort is exactly what you LACK the drive for; the loose rope and the lazy worker share the same idea.
A little poem
Pull it too tight and the good line snaps;
leave it too slack and the whole thing collapse.
couplet
Wordplay
- Why did the sailor never get blamed for laziness? He always claimed he was just taking up the slack.
What it teaches
A little slack in the line is mercy; too much is the rope giving up on the load.
Quick facts
What does SLACK mean?
Not taut or tight; loose, or lacking in activity, care, or effort.
Is SLACK a valid word?
Yes — SLACK is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is SLACK?
SLACK has 5 letters and 1 syllable.
Where does SLACK come from?
From Old English 'slæc', meaning loose, careless, or lazy, from a Proto-Germanic root; related to Latin 'laxus' (loose), the source of English 'lax'.
What can SLACK teach us?
A little slack in the line is mercy; too much is the rope giving up on the load.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.