Understanding and using expressions related to slowness can enhance your English communication skills, making your speech more vivid and expressive. In this blog post, we will explore 20 expressions that convey the idea of slowness, complete with their meanings and example sentences.
1. At a snail’s pace
Meaning: Very slowly
Example: The project is moving at a snail’s pace.
2. Drag one’s feet
Meaning: Delay or procrastinate
Example: He tends to drag his feet with assignments.
3. Take one’s time
Meaning: Do something slowly
Example: She always takes her time with homework.
4. In fits and starts
Meaning: Sporadically or irregularly
Example: The work progressed in fits and starts.
5. Put on the back burner
Meaning: Delay or postpone
Example: We’ve put the plans on the back burner.
6. Slow as molasses
Meaning: Extremely slow
Example: The internet speed is slow as molasses.
7. Plod along
Meaning: Move slowly and steadily
Example: He plodded along the trail.
8. Creep up on
Meaning: Approach slowly
Example: Winter seems to creep up on us.
9. Take it easy
Meaning: Relax and go slowly
Example: He decided to take it easy this weekend.
10. Wade through
Meaning: Progress slowly through something
Example: She waded through the lengthy report.
11. Take forever
Meaning: Take a very long time
Example: The bus took forever to arrive.
12. Linger over
Meaning: Spend a long time on
Example: They lingered over their coffee.
13. Saunter in
Meaning: Walk in slowly and casually
Example: He sauntered in late to the meeting.
14. Dilly-dally
Meaning: Waste time
Example: Stop dilly-dallying and start working.
15. Loiter around
Meaning: Hang around without purpose
Example: They loitered around the store for hours.
16. Meander through
Meaning: Move slowly without direction
Example: We meandered through the old town.
17. Crawl along
Meaning: Move very slowly
Example: Traffic crawled along the highway.
18. Sit on one’s hands
Meaning: Delay action
Example: He sat on his hands and did nothing.
19. Bide one’s time
Meaning: Wait patiently
Example: She bided her time before speaking.
20. Inch along
Meaning: Move very slowly
Example: The line inched along.
