Meaning & use
slack
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Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Hanging loosely instead of being pulled tight.
Grammar: Used before a noun or after a verb: a slack rope, the rope went slack.
Patterns
- go slack
- a slack rope
The tent collapsed when the rope went slack.
Her grip on the leash was slack, and the puppy ran off.
The sail hung slack in the windless afternoon.
adjectivecomparable
Quiet, with little business or activity.
Grammar: Often describes a time or a market: a slack season, slack demand.
Patterns
- a slack period
- slack demand
Business is slack in January, so the shop closes early.
The factory cut hours during the slack season.
Sales were slack all summer.
adjectivecomparabledisapproving
Careless, lazy or not strict enough in doing something.
Grammar: Used about people or standards: slack discipline, a slack worker. It is critical in tone.
Patterns
- be slack about something
- slack security
The report blamed slack security for the break-in.
He has grown slack about checking his work.
Slack management let the problem get worse.
noununcountable
The loose part of a rope or cable, or extra room or time that is not being used.
Grammar: Often follows take up or cut: take up the slack.
Patterns
- take up the slack
- cut someone some slack
Pull in the slack so the line stays tight.
When a colleague left, I had to take up the slack.
The budget has little slack for surprises.
verbintransitiveinformal
To work with less effort than you should, or to make something looser.
Grammar: No object when it means to do less work, usually followed by off: slack off.
Patterns
- slack off
- slack on something
Don't slack off just because the boss is away.
The team slacked during the final week.
He slacked on his training and lost fitness.
Word forms
| comparative | slacker |
|---|---|
| superlative | slackest |
| third person singular | slacks |
| past tense | slacked |
| -ing form | slacking |
Common combinations
- go slack
- The line went slack when the fish got away.
- take up the slack
- Two temps were hired to take up the slack.
- cut someone some slack
- Cut him some slack, he is new here.
- slack off
- Don't slack off on your homework.
- a slack period
- January is a slack period for travel agents.
- slack jaw
- He stared at the screen with a slack jaw.
Synonyms and how they differ
- loose
- Loose is the neutral word for not tight, while slack especially suggests a rope or line that should be tight but is not.
- lax
- Lax describes careless or not strict rules and attitudes, and does not describe a rope.
- quiet
- Quiet suits a business period, but slack suggests that trade has fallen below what is normal.
- sluggish
- Sluggish describes slow movement or poor performance of an economy, while slack describes simple lack of tension or activity.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: slack or slake?
slack vs slake
Slake means to satisfy thirst. It sounds a little like slack, but they are unrelated.
Practice
The manager said the team had become ___ about meeting deadlines.
Choose one answer.
Slack here means careless or not strict enough. Taut and stiff describe tension, and brisk means quick and energetic, the opposite of careless.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “slack”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.