Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. One that lags; a straggler.
- adj. Hanging back or falling behind; dilatory. See Synonyms at slow.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Slow; sluggish; backward.
- n. One who lags; a loiterer; a lazy, slack fellow.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Slow; sluggish; backward.
- n. One who lags; a loiterer.
WordNet 3.0
- n. someone who takes more time than necessary; someone who lags behind
- adj. wasting time
Etymologies
- From lag + -ard. (Wiktionary)
Examples
“He was classified as a laggard on my innovativeness scale because he had not adopted any of the dozen agricultural innovations recommended by agricultural experts.”
“A laggard was the business-jet segment, whose earnings dropped 39% on flat revenue.”
“Another laggard was the Department of Defense, which was among a group of five agencies that only met or surpassed one of its five targets.”
The Wall Street Journal: US Misses Target for Small-Business Contracts
“The point of reference for the laggard is the past.”
“If the people about you are carrying on their business or their benevolence at a pace which drains the life out of you, resolutely take a slower pace; be called a laggard, make less money, accomplish less work than they, but be what you were meant to be and can be.”
“And if the laggard is a man, they imitate the cry with which they call a he-goat; if a woman, the cry with which they call a she-goat.”
“ And if the laggard is a man, they imitate the cry with which they call a he-goat; if a woman, the cry with which they call a she-goat.”
Chapter 48. The Corn-Spirit as an Animal. § 6. The Corn-spirit as a Goat
“Girls and high school sports: complaints tag laggard schools - CSMonitor.com”
“Emerging stock bull run fuels hunt for laggard trades equity bull run may extend into 2010 are prompting investors who missed the rally to seek out so-called laggard”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘laggard’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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'ard enough
The derogatory suffix -ard, now used in just a few words though previously very productive.
bastard, coward, shittard, squittard, cackard, snivelard, dullard, sluggard, niggard, dizzard, blaggard, drunkard and 21 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
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gre2
aberrant, aberration, aboveboard, abrasive, abstemious, acme, admonish, affable, affluent, alacrity, allegory, alleviate and 1824 more...
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ulyssean
... as in "by James Joyce"
stately, plump, aloft, gurgling, untonsured, chrysostomos, jowl, parapet, jesuit, indigestion, scutter, noserag and 688 more...
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sionnach's Words
contumely, fomite, holmgang, poltroon, eleemosynary, obsidian, nugatory, grindcore, felch, recrudescent, pyx, parenteral and 3271 more...
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stpeter's Words
abase, abasement, abashed, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abhorrent, abide, abject, ablation, abnegation and 3536 more...
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Tolland's list
Those I've come across and try to keep fresh within my mind.
clandestine, dysphoric, indictive, vigil, fractious, assiduous, indefatigable, ubiquitous, insidious, paroicous, aplomb, sangfroid and 654 more...
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kevinl's Words
indefatigable, dabble, befuddle, fin, infinity, might, futile, squirm, bookish, feint, liquidity, belt and 126 more...
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Red Seas Under Red Skies
Words and phrase from Scott Lynch's book, Red Seas Under Red Skies.
legate, pugnacity, weevil, steady as a dry-d..., chit, sans, apprise, forfend, ken, expatriate, enclave, scrubs and 220 more...
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Sat Vocabulary List
abandon, abash, abate, abjure, ablution, abnegate, abominable, aboriginal, abortive, abrade, abridge, abrogate and 2155 more...
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New GRE Preparation List
All the words which I encounter during my GRE studies. :)
rhetoric, errant, arrant, artless, artful, ephemeral, libel, rhapsody, cloy, conjecture, relegate, aberrant and 927 more...
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Underworld
Don DeLillo
roily, reverie, slidy, bandido, mohair, brilliantine, stupe, juke step, jowly, juke, wicket, quidbit and 391 more...
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astrosfan's Words
pantaloons, schadenfreude, astonishing, eve, static, freeze, luscious, voluptuous, stagnant, mimic, speed, vespertillinoid and 302 more...
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ash
ash
abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abide, abject, abjure and 4874 more...
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Ulysses
This is a list of the more difficult English words found in James Joyce's Ulysses. It will continually be updated as I read along. The list is in reverse chronological order, meaning that the last ...
equine, untonsured, corpuscle, prelate, parapet, dactyl, jejune, lancet, jalap, barbican, valise, dewsilky and 377 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for laggard.
brtom He stood in the porch and watched the laggard hurry towards the scrappy field where sharp voices were in strife.
Joyce, Ulysses, 2 Dec 29, 2006