stagnant

[ stag-nuhnt ]

adjective

1. not flowing or running, as water, air, etc.
2. stale or foul from standing, as a pool of water.
3. characterized by lack of development, advancement, or progressive movement:

   a stagnant economy.

4. inactive, sluggish, or dull.

   Synonyms: lazy, inert, dead, lifeless, dormant

stagnant

/ ˈstæɡnənt /

adjective

1. (of water, etc) standing still; without flow or current
2. brackish and foul from standing still
3. stale, sluggish, or dull from inaction
4. not growing or developing; static

Derived Forms

• ˈstagnancy, noun
• ˈstagnantly, adverb

Other Words From

• stagnan·cy stagnance noun
• stagnant·ly adverb
• un·stagnant adjective
• un·stagnant·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of stagnant¹

First recorded in 1660–70; from Latin stāgnant-, stem of stāgnāns “forming a pool,” present participle of stāgnāre “to form a pool of standing water, be inundated”; stagnate

Word History and Origins

Origin of stagnant¹

C17: from Latin stagnāns , from stagnāre to be stagnant, from stagnum a pool

Example Sentences

We graduated into the Great Recession, burdened with debt and rewarded with stagnant wages, and endured the slowest economic growth faced by any generation in US history.

From MIT Technology Review

Starting in the 1990s, states sought to replicate the tribal model, gradually enabling nonreservation casinos to promote stagnant economies.

From Washington Post

Another issue will be staffing, which has suffered in recent years from stagnant funding and a hiring freeze.

From ProPublica

That means that some stagnant lid planets could create an atmosphere and even have temperate climates with liquid water, at least for a time.

From Science News

Baker points out that this means workers may have to take in stagnant air that has been breathed in by people from multiple different households, upping their risk of catching a virus that may be floating around.

From Popular-Science

Of course, declining or stagnant wage growth started well before this president took office.

From The Daily Beast

Wages are stagnant and middle-class household incomes continue to decline.

From The Daily Beast

Cory Gardner and others hammered on stagnant wages for the middle class.

From The Daily Beast

Views on the controversial subject, Pew notes, have been more or less stagnant since 2005.

From The Daily Beast

The stagnant pool of green water at the bottom of the ditch rises slightly.

From The Daily Beast

But he forgot the stagnant town, the bald-headed man at the club window, the organ and "The Manola."

From Project Gutenberg

A germ flies from a stagnant pool, and the laughing child, its mother's darling, dies dreadfully of diphtheria.

From Project Gutenberg

He was a refuge from herself; in his imperious demands her memory slept, her depths were stagnant.

From Project Gutenberg

A stagnant pool among some reeds caught the reflection of the sunset and changed on the instant into raw gold.

From Project Gutenberg

It was low and flat, and was traversed by broad ditches, generally full of stagnant water.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• dormant
• idle
• inactive
• lifeless
• listless
• sluggish
• static
• stationary