slack meaning and examples

2025-09-05

Meaning

Slack has multiple meanings depending on its use:

  • Adjective: Loose, not tight; showing a lack of effort or care.
  • Verb: To become less tight, less active, or to reduce effort.
  • Noun: A part that is loose or not tight; also refers to a reduction in activity or demand.

Grammar and Usage

  • Adjective: "The rope is slack." (describing something not tight)
  • Adjective (figurative): "His work has been slack lately." (showing lack of effort)
  • Verb (intransitive/transitive): "Don’t slack off at work." / "The tension in the rope slackened."
  • Noun: "There was some slack in the rope." / "During the slack season, sales drop."

Common Variations

  • Slack off (phrasal verb): to reduce effort, be lazy.
  • Take up the slack: to do extra work when others do less.

Common Phrases

  • "Slack rope"
  • "Slack season"
  • "Slack off"
  • "Cut someone some slack" (to go easy on someone)
  • "Take up the slack"

Collocations

  • Slack rope
  • Slack worker
  • Slack discipline
  • Slack season
  • Slack demand

Examples

  1. The rope was slack, so he tightened it.
  2. The manager warned them not to slack off during busy hours.
  3. Her performance has been slack since the project began.
  4. There’s too much slack in this cable.
  5. Sales usually fall during the slack season.
  6. Don’t cut corners or slack on safety rules.
  7. He promised to take up the slack while others were away.
  8. The pace of negotiations began to slacken.
  • Adjective: loose, careless, negligent, lazy
  • Verb: ease, relax, diminish, shirk
  • Noun: lull, downtime, reduction