different between slow vs easy

English

Etymology

From Middle English slow, slaw, from Old English sl?w (“sluggish, inert, slothful, late, tardy, torpid, slow”), from Proto-Germanic *slaiwaz (“blunt, dull, faint, weak, slack”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)lew- (“limp”). Cognate with Scots slaw (“slow”), Dutch sleeuw (“blunt, dull”), Low German slee (“dull, sluggish”), German schlehe, schleh (“dull, exhausted, faint”), Danish sløv (“dull, torpid, drowsy”), Swedish slö (“slack, lazy”), Icelandic sljór (“dim-witted, slow”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /sl??/
• (US) IPA^(key): /slo?/
• Rhymes: -??

Adjective

slow (comparative slower, superlative slowest)

1. Taking a long time to move or go a short distance, or to perform an action; not quick in motion; proceeding at a low speed.

2. Not happening in a short time; spread over a comparatively long time.
   • 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost

     These changes in the heavens, though slow, produced / Like change on sea and land, sidereal blast.
3. Of reduced intellectual capacity; not quick to comprehend.
   • 1960, Dissertation Abstracts (volume 20, page 4007)

     Experienced classroom teachers are well acquainted with the attention-seeker, the shy girl, the aggressive boy, the poor concentrator, the slow student […]

4. Not hasty; not tending to hurry; acting with deliberation or caution.
   • 1999, Brian Paul Kaufman, K. Winston Caine, Prayer, Faith, and Healing: Cure Your Body, Heal Your Mind and Restore Your Soul

     And even after the emotional cast comes off, we need to be slow about getting deeply involved in a relationship again

   • 1611, King James Bible, Proverbs xiv 29

     He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding.

5. (of a clock or the like) Behind in time; indicating a time earlier than the true time.

6. Lacking spirit; deficient in liveliness or briskness.
7. (of a period of time) Not busy; lacking activity.

Synonyms

• (taking a long time to move a short distance): deliberate; moderate; see also Thesaurus:slow
• (not happening in a short time): gradual; see also Thesaurus:gradual
• (of reduced intellectual capacity): dull-witted; see also Thesaurus:stupid
• (acting with deliberation): careful, deliberate, prudent; see also Thesaurus:cautious
• (behind in time):
• (lacking spirit): boring, dilatory, dull, inactive, tardy, slothful, sluggish; see also Thesaurus:inactive or Thesaurus:boring
• (not busy): quiet, unbusy

Antonyms

• (taking a long time to move a short distance): fast, quick, rapid, swift; see also Thesaurus:speedy
• (not happening in a short time): abrupt, sudden; see also Thesaurus:sudden
• (of reduced intellectual capacity): keen, quick, quick-witted; see also Thesaurus:intelligent
• (acting with deliberation): hasty, precipitate, prompt; see also Thesaurus:prompt
• (behind in time): accurate, fast
• (lacking spirit): brisk, lively; see also Thesaurus:active
• (not busy): hectic

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

slow (third-person singular simple present slows, present participle slowing, simple past and past participle slowed)

1. (transitive) To make (something) run, move, etc. less quickly; to reduce the speed of.

2. (transitive) To keep from going quickly; to hinder the progress of.

3. (intransitive) To become slow; to slacken in speed; to decelerate.

   • After about a minute, the creek bed vomited the debris into a gently sloped meadow. Saugstad felt the snow slow and tried to keep her hands in front of her.

Synonyms

• (keep from going quickly): delay, hinder, retard
• (become slow): decelerate, slacken

Derived terms

• slower
• slow up
• slow down

Translations

Noun

slow (plural slows)

1. Someone who is slow; a sluggard.
2. (music) A slow song.

Adverb

slow (comparative slower, superlative slowest)

1. Slowly.
   • 1594, William Shakespeare, The Rape of Lucrece

     Let him have time to mark how slow time goes / In time of sorrow.

Anagrams

• Lows, OWLs, lows, owls, sowl

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English slow.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /slo/

Noun

slow m (plural slows)

1. slow waltz

See also

• quick

Further reading

• “slow” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Lower Sorbian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [slow]

Noun

slow

1. genitive of sl?

English

Alternative forms

• aisy (dialectal, archaic)
• easie (obsolete)
• eazy (eye dialect)
• EZ (abbreviation, US, informal)

Etymology

From Middle English eesy, esy, partly from Middle English ese (“ease”) + -y, equivalent to ease +? -y, and partly from Old French aisié (“eased, at ease, at leisure”), past participle of aisier (“to put at ease”), from aise (“empty space, elbow room, opportunity”), of uncertain origin. See ease. Merged with Middle English ethe, eathe (“easy”), from Old English ?eþe, from Proto-Germanic *auþuz, from Proto-Indo-European *aut- (“empty, lonely”). Compare also Old Saxon ?þi, Old High German ?di, Old Norse auðr, all meaning "easy, vacant, empty." More at ease, eath.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?i?zi/, /?i?z?/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?izi/
• Rhymes: -i?zi

Adjective

easy (comparative easier or more easy, superlative easiest or most easy)

1. (now rare except in certain expressions) Comfortable; at ease.

2. Requiring little skill or effort.

3. Causing ease; giving comfort, or freedom from care or labour.

   Rich people live in easy circumstances.

   an easy chair

4. Free from constraint, harshness, or formality; unconstrained; smooth.

   easy manners; an easy style
5. (informal, derogatory, of a woman) Consenting readily to sex.

6. Not making resistance or showing unwillingness; tractable; yielding; compliant.

   • He gain'd their easy hearts.
7. (finance, dated) Not straitened as to money matters; opposed to tight.

   The market is easy.

Synonyms

• (comfortable): relaxed, relaxing
• (not difficult): light, eath
• (consenting readily to sex): fast
• (requiring little skill or effort): soft, trivial
• See also Thesaurus:easy

Antonyms

• (comfortable, at ease): uneasy, anxious
• (requiring little skill or effort): difficult, hard, uneasy, uneath, challenging

Derived terms

Related terms

• ease

Descendants

• ? Faroese: isi
• ? Finnish: iisi

Translations

Adverb

easy (comparative easier, superlative easiest)

1. In a relaxed or casual manner.

2. In a manner without strictness or harshness.

3. Used an intensifier for large magnitudes.

4. Not difficult, not hard. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Derived terms

• breathe easy

Noun

easy (plural easies)

1. Something that is easy

Verb

easy (third-person singular simple present easies, present participle easying, simple past and past participle easied)

1. (rowing) Synonym of easy-oar

Anagrams

• Ayes, Saye, Seay, ayes, eyas, saye, yaes, yeas

Middle English

Adjective

easy

1. Alternative form of esy

Adverb

easy

1. Alternative form of esy