lagged

verb

past tense of lag
1
as in faded
to lose bodily strength or vigor during the fourth quarter the whole team seemed to lag

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in delayed
to move or act slowly the tired puppy was lagging behind the rest of the pack

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of lagged Venables’ teams have often packed a punch on defense and lagged on offense. — Pj Green, Kansas City Star, 23 Aug. 2026 Long-term survivors remember when policy lagged behind the epidemic and when access to treatment, care, housing, and dignity had to be fought for. — Jeff Berry, STAT, 21 Aug. 2026 Meta and xAI, however, lagged substantially behind on most of the criteria. — Beatrice Nolan, Fortune, 20 Aug. 2026 Lucarelli’s command teetered as the game lagged on the MacBook. — Stephen J. Nesbitt, New York Times, 20 Aug. 2026 Mills has lagged in fundraising and has less than $70,000 in the bank, according to the latest data from the Federal Election Commission, which showed Elijah with more than $186,000 cash on hand. — Caitlin Yilek, CBS News, 19 Aug. 2026 What has lagged is the strategic intent to run them together. — Kamya Elawadhi, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2026 Their chorus of howls and yowls was all that kept them connected to the hunters who lagged far behind. — Paul Schullery, Outdoor Life, 13 Aug. 2026 Competing at the frontier Google has lagged behind OpenAI, which set the pace after releasing ChatGPT to the public in 2022. — Kai Nicol-Schwarz, CNBC, 12 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lagged
  1. faded
  2. delayed
  3. weakened
  4. lingered
  5. sagged
  6. dragged
  7. went
  8. crawled
Verb
  • Their content together, appearances, red carpet moments, casual clips of them out in Los Angeles, has kept fans invested in their story past the finale, extending the shelf life of a couple that could otherwise have faded once the season ended.
    — Olivia Shalhoup, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2026
  • The next major episode of persistent trade imbalances was the rare case in which the imbalances faded away without causing major disruption.
    — MICHAEL PETTIS, Foreign Affairs, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of faded
Verb
  • Delane’s pro debut was delayed by a shoulder injury suffered in the spring, limiting his practice in OTAs and training camp.
    — Blair Kerkhoff, Kansas City Star, 25 Aug. 2026
  • Urgent repair projects will be delayed, construction costs will multiply, and the visitor experience will inevitably decline as facilities fall into disrepair, risking the safety of millions of tourists and residents alike.
    — Lulu Vilas, Sun Sentinel, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of delayed
Verb
  • Airstrikes have weakened the regime militarily but strengthened its standing internally.
    — Nate Swanson, Foreign Affairs, 25 Aug. 2026
  • That mechanism has weakened substantially since the global financial crisis, and particularly since 2020.
    — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of weakened
Verb
  • Tagovailoa on return, boos Falcons and former Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who was greeted with boos during Friday’s preseason game, lingered on the field afterward to embrace several former teammates and Dolphins staffers.
    — Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 29 Aug. 2026
  • Young wound up going 8–5 as a starter and won Offensive Rookie of the Year, but tensions lingered.
    — Nasha Smith, PEOPLE, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of lingered
Verb
  • Officers quickly converged to help subdue the teen, with Merks pulling the gun from the backside of his jeans, which had sagged below his mid-thigh.
    — Cristóbal Reyes, The Orlando Sentinel, 20 Aug. 2026
  • Flags sagged in the rain and translucent ponchos billowed in the wind, but the sound of bagpipes and a booming sousaphone kept the crowd moving.
    — Lila Hempel-Edgers, Chicago Tribune, 1 Aug. 2026
Definition of sagged
Verb
  • The winter chill that dragged digital assets down during most of the hot summer months is finally beginning to lift, with the price of Bitcoin surging about 20 percent last week, its strongest three-day rally since 2023.
    — Peter Mintzberg, Fortune, 27 Aug. 2026
  • In 2024, Burke’s squad dragged itself off the mat after an awful (yet at the time, typical) start to the season to go unbeaten in 12 of 13 matches down the stretch and narrowly miss the playoffs.
    — Kels Dayton, Hartford Courant, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of dragged
Verb
  • The Sox went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and left 14 on base while falling in the opener of the four-game series.
    — LaMond Pope, Chicago Tribune, 1 Sep. 2026
  • Other questions still linger, including where Lahti’s car went.
    — Taylor Romine, CNN Money, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of went
Verb
  • One roach crawled on glassware in the dishwashing area and eight were under the dishwasher.
    — David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 28 Aug. 2026
  • The mural is as if the octopus crawled out of the large vase filled with water and flowers and is helping to feed the birds.
    — Doug Ross, Chicago Tribune, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of crawled

Browse Nearby Words

laggards
lagged
lagger
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Lagged.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lagged. Accessed 1 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

Why does English have so many silent letters?

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Even More Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
skateboard-dog-hat
Wordmaxxing Slang Quiz Give your vocabulary a glow up by getting sendy w...
See All