slouch

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A hanging down of the head; a drooping posture; a limp appearance

   He sat with an unenthusiastic slouch.

2. 2
   noun

   Any depression or hanging down, as of a hat brim.

   The plant hung in a permanent slouch.

3. 3
   noun

   Someone who is slow to act.

   In any case, Scotland has been no slouch at national invention. The Greek temple to commemorate James Thomson wasn’t the only monument raised by the 11th Earl of Buchan, who was a friend and neighbour of Walter Scott, and as great a romancer in his obsession with ruins, battlements and fancy dress.

4. 4
   verb

   To hang or droop; to adopt a limp posture

   Do not slouch when playing a flute.

Unclear. Perhaps from Middle English slugge, from Old Norse slókr (“lazy fellow”). See also Swedish sloka (“to slouch, wilt”), related to Swedish slak (“slack, soft and flexible”) and Latin laxus (“loose, slack”).

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